26 


GIFT  OF 


GIFT 

JAN   26  1921 


ORIENTAL   MISSION  WORK 

On  the  Pacific  Coast  of  the 
United  States  of  America 


CONTENTS 


Report  on  Oriental  Mission  Work, 
Rev.  George  W.  Hinman,  D.D. 


Review  of  Plans  and  Policies  of  Co-operation  in  Oriental 

Work  on  the  Pacific  Coast — By  Dr.  H.  B.  Johnson 12 

Successes  and  Failures  in  the  Evangelization  of  Orientals, 

By  Dr.  E.  A.  Sturge 17 

Educational  Work  in  the  Chinese  Community  of  San  Francisco, 
Rev.  Charles  R.  Shepherd 21 

Social  and  Philanthropic  Work  Among  Orientals — Sarah  Ellis.   29 

Chinese  Slavery.     Is  it  Fact,  or  Fiction? 

By  Miss  Donaldina  Cameron  38 

Policing  tfie  Chinese  in  San  Francisco — Capt.  Duncan  Matheson  41 
Rep'ort  of  'trie  "Findings  Committee 42 


ORIENTAL   MISSION   WORK 

On  the  Pacific  Coast  of  the 
United  States  of  America 


Addresses  and  Findings  of  Conferences  in 

Los  Angeles  and  San  Francisco,  California 

October  13,  14,  15,  1920 


FOREWORD. 

THE  articles  in  this  pamphlet  partake  of  the  mingled 
nature  of  surveys,  reports  and  addresses  given  at  a 
Conference  on  Oriental  Missions  held  in  Los  Angeles 
and  San  Francisco,  California,  October  13,  14  and  15,  1920. 
The  conference  convened  through  the  initiative  of  the  Home 
Missions  Council  and  the  Council  of  Women  for  Home  Missions 
and  in  co-operation  with  the  Standing  Committee  of  American 
Workers  Among  Orientals,  a  name  since  changed  to  the 
Oriental  Missions  Council. 

Today  the  tides  of  race  consciousness  are  running  high  and 
the  feeling  of  each  separate  race  is  tense.  The  relation  of 
America  to  the  Christian  significance  of  this  consciousness  is 
primal.  Christianity,  its  teachings  and  applications,  are  of 
largest  importance  in  inter-racial  understanding  and  the  pro- 
motion of  the  spirit  of  justice  and  goodwill. 

These  addresses  furnish  to  mission  agencies  and  the  Christian 
church  facts  and  forces  dealing  with  vital  issues  relating  not 
alone  to  the  Japanese,  but  to  the  Chinese,  the  Koreans  and  other 
Oriental  folks.  They  portray  what  the  Christian  church  is 
doing  and  should  do  in  the  field  of  right  thinking  and  genuine 
service  among  the  Orientals  of  the  Pacific  Coast  and  indirectly 
of  the  whole  country. 


Published  by 
Home  Missions  Council 

and 

Council  of  Women  for  Home  Missions 
156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 

444169 


''Report  on  Oriental  Mission  Work 

REV.  GEORGE  W.  HINMAN,  D.D., 

Superintendent  of  Oriental  Missions,  American  Missionary 

Society. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Members  of  the  Conference : 

It  does  not  seem  best  to  take  time  in  this  paper  to  present 
general  statistics  of  Oriental  population  in  the  United  States, 
nor  of  its  distribution,  nor  to  discuss  the  present  status  of 
Oriental  immigration,  the  political  and  economic  conditions 
under  which  Orientals  live,  nor  the  special  problems  of  relation 
with  the  white  population  which  are  now  causing  so  much 
and  such  heated  discussion.  There  are  available  several  elabo- 
rate studies  of  the  Orientals  in  America,  and  the  new  census 
figures  when  issued  will  give  much  more  accurate  statistics 
of  number  and  distribution  than  are  now  available  or  could  be 
estimated.  Such  information  would  be  essential  to  any  new 
denominational  or  co-operative  program  of  Oriental  missions. 
But  for  the  present  I  shall  attempt  only  a  report  of  existing 
Oriental  mission  work,  its  extent,  its  character,  some  of  its 
achievements  and  some  conditions  that  have  hindered  its  greater 
success,  also  some  neglected  regions  and  some  neglected  oppor- 
tunities. 

Mission  work  has  been  carried  on  for  Chinese  in  the  United 
States  since  1852,  for  Japanese  since  1877,  for  Koreans  about 
twenty  years,  and  for  East  Indians  (Hindus)  intermittently 
during  the  last  seven  years.  More  than  one  missionary  has 
given  continuous  service  to  Chinese  missions  in  the  United 
States  for  fifty  years,  as  Dr.  Gibson  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
whose  jubilee  of  service  has  just  been  celebrated,  and  Dr.  Pond 
of  the  Congregationalists  who  has  worked  even  longer. 

Missions  or  churches  for  Orientals  are  maintained  at  present 
by  sixteen  Protestant  denominations,  operating  either  through 
a  general  home  mission  board,  woman's  home  mission  board 
(sometimes  through  both),  in  one  case  (Presbyterians,  through 
general  and  woman's  foreign  mission  boards),  and  through 
local  or  district  denominational  organizations.  The  denomina- 
tions reporting  Oriental  mission  work  are : 

Baptist,  Brethren,  Christian,  Congregational,  Cumberland 
Presbyterian,  Episcopal,  Friends,  Free  Methodist,  Methodist 
Episcopal,  Methodist  Episcopal,  South,  (Presbyterian  in  the 
U.  S.  A.),  Nazarene,  Reformed  in  America,  Reformed  in  the 
United  States,  Seventh  Day  Adventists,  and  United  Brethren. 
Work  is  also  done  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  the 
Salvation  Army.  Catholics  maintain  some  work,  and  there  are 
many  Buddhist  churches,  a  few  Taoist  and  Shinto  temples,  and 
two  Sikh  temples. 

Most  of  the  Oriental  mission  work  aided  or  directed  by 
general  missionary  organizations  is  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, in  Colorado,  Utah,  Washington,  Oregon  and  California. 

2 


In  this  region  there  are,  however,  many  sections  with  large 
Oriental  population  which  have  only  rare  and  brief  visits  from 
Christian  workers.  The  great  bulk  of  the  Oriental  population  of 
the  United  States  is  within  this  Pacific  Coast  and  Intermountain 
area.  There  are  a  considerable  number  of  mission  enterprises 
for  groups  of  Chinese  in  cities  east  of  the  Mississippi.  These 
are  generally  financed  and  otherwise  aided  by  local  American 
churches  or  city  missionary  societies  or  interdenominational 
groups.  A  few  Christian  institutions  for  Japanese  have  also 
been  established  in  that  section  of  the  United  States,  mostly  in 
student  centers,  largely  .maintained  and  directed  by  the  Japanese 
themselves. 

The  character  of  mission  work  for  Chinese  has  traditionally 
been  determined  by  their  need  for  instruction  in  English,  and  by 
sympathy  for  their  enforced  isolation  from  American  life.  Night 
schools  and  social  service  work  have  been  the  common  channel 
through  which  the  spirit  of  American  Christianity  has  been 
expressed.  Some  splendid  results  have  been  attained  in  the 
stimulation  and  development  of  individuals.  The  tremendous 
contribution  of  Chinese  missions  in  the  United  States  to  the 
evangelization  and  development  of  China  has  never  been  appre- 
ciated except  by  the  few  who  have  had  personal  contact  with 
the  products  of  our  humble  night  schools  and  have  been  able 
to  maintain  continuous  touch  with  their  pupils. 

Mission  work  for  Chinese  in  the  United  States  has  not  suc- 
ceeded, as  might  have  been  hoped,  in  the  Americanization  of 
the  Chinese  population  through  religious  contacts  nor  in  the 
organization  among  them  of  a  self-dependent  religious  life.  This 
is  especially  true  in  Chinese  missions  east  of  the  Mississippi 
where  the  work  has  lacked  expert  missionary  supervision.  The 
effort  in  later  years  on  the  Pacific  Coast  to  emphasize  a  normal 
development  of  Christian  organization  and  community  life 
among  the  Chinese  has  been  seriously  handicapped  by  a  con- 
servative clinging  to  earlier  traditional  methods. 

The  Japanese  work  has  from  the  first  placed  larger  responsi- 
bility upon  Japanese  themselves,  with  very  gratifying  results  in 
initiative  and  responsible  support  of  permanent  religious  organ- 
izations. Not  so  much  has  been  done  in  elementary  English 
teaching,  but  night  schools  have  met  a  real  demand  in  many 
cases  and  have  served  to  draw  many  to  the  churches.  Preach- 
ing has  always  been  emphasized,  and  large  audiences  respond 
when  distinguished  and  able  speakers  occupy  the  pulpits.  Many 
Japanese  make  admirable  Sunday  School  teachers,  needing  only 
training  in  the  best  methods.  The  Japanese  churches  have  been 
distinguished  for  evangelistic  zeal  and  the  pioneering  spirit. 
Most  of  them  provide  the  pastor  with  an  auto,  and  sometimes 
two  or  three  machines  are  used  to  collect  the  children  for  Sun- 
day School  and  kindergarten.  There  have  also  been  many 
mission  institutions  which  served  as  homes  and  social  and 
religious  centers  for  Japanese  high  school  and  college  students. 
Many  of  the  Chinese  missions  have  also  provided  for  a  Chris- 


tian  home  for  young  men  workers  or  students  and  sometimes 
for  families. 

The  increasing  immigration  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  women 
has  considerably  modified  the  missionary  problem.  For  many 
years  the  immigration  was  almost  exclusively  men.  Chinese 
and  Japanese  need  homes  and  normal  family  life  as  much  as 
Americans  if  they  are  to  be  Christianized  and  Americanized. 
From  a  Christian  standpoint  the  coming  of  the  Chinese  and 
Japanese  women  was  a  great  new  opportunity  and  a  guarantee 
of  the  stability  and  permanence  of  our  Christian  work,  even 
though  it  was  found  that  Chinese  women  were  often  more 
conservative  than  their  husbands.  Social  work  in  the  homes, 
and  the  establishment  of  church  work  on  the  basis  of  the 
family  have  been  emphasized  with  good  results.  The  American- 
born  children,  with  full  rights  as  American  citizens,  provided 
a  new  phase  of  missionary  work.  Mission  Kindergartens  have 
grown  to  meet  the  need,  and  all  the  opportunities  of  public 
schools  have  been  freely  provided  for  these  American-born 
Orientals.  Special  schools  to  teach  them  the  language  of  their 
parents  have  seemed  essential  if  the  children  are  to  maintain 
helpful  contact  with  the  older  generation  and  with  the  country 
from  which  their  parents  came.  These  have  been  established  by 
the  missions  or  by  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  associations.  The 
older  children  of  Oriental  parents,  educated  in  our  public  schools 
and  universities,  largely  Americanized,  but  admitted  to  only  a 
small  share  in  American  life,  provide  another  distinct  missionary 
problem,  toward  which  the  Oriental  churches  in  their  social 
life  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  are  attempting  a 
solution. 

The  work  of  the  large  denominations  which  have  a  number 
of  missions  for  Orientals  and  have  conducted  them  for  many 
years  under  special  superintendents  shows  encouraging  growth 
of  established  church  organizations,  with  well-trained  and  effi- 
cient Oriental  pastors  and  teachers,  men  and  women.  A  large 
part  of  the  present  success  of  the  work  of  these  denominations 
arises  from  expert  direction  and  the  initiative  and  consecration 
of  Orientals.  The  latter  should  be  an  increasingly  important 
factor.  The  direct  work  of  Americans  in  night  schools  and 
churches  should  not  be  required  as  much  as  in  the  past.  Those 
Oriental  missions  which  lack  expert  supervision  and  trained 
Oriental  workers,  guided  and  stimulated  by  close  relation  with 
other  Oriental  workers  in  the  same  denominational  group,  are 
likely  to  be  at  a  still  greater  disadvantage  in  the  future.  They 
will  have  to  continue  dependent  on  American  financial  support 
and  American  workers  instead  of  developing  towards  the  recog- 
nized goal  of  missionary  effort,  an  Oriental  church  functioning 
in  all  respects  like  an  American  church  of  the  same  denomi- 
nation. 

The  recognized  need  of  fellowship  among  Chinese  and  Japa- 
nese pastors  and  teachers  for  the  sake  of  their  own  development 
and  the  extension  of  Christian  work  in  Oriental  communities 


has  led  to  much  union  work,  undertaken  by  Oriental  workers 
themselves.  Evangelistic  campaigns,  community  betterment  cam- 
paigns and  interdenominational  newspaper  enterprises  have  been 
undertaken  energetically  by  Oriental  Christian  leaders. 

A  notable  inadequacy  of  mission  work  for  Orientals  in 
America  has  been  in  the  development  or  supply  of  trained 
Oriental  workers.  In  the  early  days  of  Chinese  missions  many 
Christian  workers  were  secured  for  temporary  or  permanent 
service  from  among  the  pupils  of  the  night  schools.  First 
employed  as  interpreters,  they  grew  in  consecration  and  practical 
efficiency  till  some  of  them  became  competent  pastors  and  were 
ordained.  As  Chinese  Christians  grew  in  spiritual  experience 
the  demand  for  fully  equipped  ministers  was  more  urgent.  Few 
educated  Cantonese  Christians  in  the  United  States  were  willing 
to  spend  time  in  thorough  preparation  for  the  ministry,  and 
it  was  recognized  that  training  in  an  American  theological 
school  might  not  after  all  give  them  special  fitness  for  evangelis- 
tic work  among  their  own  people.  So  efforts  have  been  made 
to  secure  trained  ministers  from  the  home  districts  of  the 
Chinese  in  America,  men  who  have  had  practical  experience 
as  well  as  careful  training  and  have  shown  marked  evangelistic 
zeal.  The  results  have  usually  been  very  satisfactory,  though 
the  difficulty  and  expense  of  bringing  them  to  America  and 
the  terrible  lack  of  trained  workers  in  the  Canton  missions  pre- 
vents bringing  more.  There  has  been  less  difficulty  in  providing 
for  the  Japanese  churches.  These  churches  have  from  the 
first  demanded  a  trained  minister,  but  fortunately  the  schools 
of  Japan  have  provided  a  large  number  of  Christian  workers, 
anxious  to  come  to  America,  for  wider  study  and  experience, 
and  more  intent  on  ideals  than  on  money-making.  Few  of 
the  Oriental  missions  for  Chinese  or  Japanese  have  made  the 
mistake  of  attempting  to  develop  an  Oriental  church  with  an 
American  pastor.  On  the  other  hand,  it  might  be  noted  in 
passing  that  both  Chinese,  Japanese  and  even  Hindu  Christian 
evangelists  have  done  effective  evangelistic  work  recently  with 
American  congregations,  though  this  can  hardly  be  regarded  as 
a  normal  form  of  Christian  mission  work. 

There  are  forty-three  Christian  institutions  for  Chinese  in 
Northern  California.  Most  of  these  are  in  the  San  Francisco 
Bay  Region.  Three  are  children's  homes,  one  is  a  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
and  one  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Several  do  only  night  school  work,  but 
twenty-five  of  them  have  regular  religious  services  and  the 
rudiments  of  a  church  group.  There  are  ten  missions  in 
Southern  California,  four  of  them  in  Los  Angeles,  all  well 
established  with  church  work.  Portland,  Oregon,  has  four  mis- 
sions, Seattle  one  and  a  Chinese  Y.  M.  C.  A.  There  is  one 
other  in  Washington,  one  in  Montana  and  one  in  Arizona. 

Eighty-eight  missions  or  Sunday  Schools  for  Chinese  in  the 
country  east  of  the  Mississippi  have  been  reported,  fourteen  in 
Chicago,  thirteen  in  Boston,  ten  in  Brooklyn,  eight  in  New  York, 
four  in  Philadelphia  and  three  each  in  Baltimore  and  Washing- 


ton.  They  are  scattered  from  Detroit  to  New  Orleans,  but  a 
very  considerable  number  are  in  New  England  where  there  is 
a  Chinese  Sunday  School  Workers'  Union.  There  is  also  a 
Chinese  Christian  Union  of  Greater  New  York.  This  very 
extensive  missionary  effort  for  Chinese  throughout  the  eastern 
part  of  the  United  States,  involving  a  large  expenditure  of 
money  and  a  still  larger  contribution  of  voluntary  service,  suffers 
from  the  lack  of  a  missionary  policy  and  trained  American 
leadership.  This  is  freely  admitted  and  deplored  by  the  indi- 
viduals and  organizations  which  are  carrying  it  on. 

Mission  work  for  Koreans  is  carried  on  quite  adequately  by 
the  Presbyterians  and  Southern  Methodists  at  fifteen  points  in 
California.  There  are  three  or  four  trained  Korean  pastors  who 
cover  a  circuit.  A  very  large  proportion  of  the  comparatively 
small  number  of  Koreans  in  the  United  States  have  been  under 
Christian  influence  in  their  own  country.  At  the  present  the 
only  work  for  the  few  East  Indians  in  the  United  States  is 
carried  on  by  the  Baptists  in  Southern  California.  An  Indian 
Christian  is  employed.  There  are  two  other  centers  where  work 
for  these  people,  mostly  adherents  of  the  Sikh  religion,  should 
be  undertaken. 

Japanese  Christian  work  has  been  established  at  forty  places 
in  Northern  California,  thirty-two  places  in  Southern  California. 
One  church  has  been  organized  in  Oregon.  There  are  five 
churches  and  two  homes  for  girls  and  women  in  Seattle,  and 
three  other  missionary  enterprises  in  the  rest  of  the  state.  Two 
centers  of  church  work  have  been  opened  in  Utah  and  two  in 
Colorado.  East  of  the  Mississippi  there  are  two  religious 
centers  and  dormitories  for  Japanese  in  Chicago  and  four  in 
New  York.  Some  work  has  been  undertaken  in  Boston  by 
the  Y.  M.  C  A. 

It  does  not  seem  practicable  to  attempt  a  report  of  total 
membership  in  the  Oriental  churches,  Sunday  Schools  and  other 
schools  in  the  United  States.  The  actual  number  at  present  in 
active  membership  is  less  than  the  number  enrolled  and  would 
seem  small  compared  with  the  total  population.  The  church 
lists  include  large  numbers  who  have  returned  to  China  and 
Japan  and  are  exerting  a  profound  influence  in  spreading 
Christianity  there.  The  missionary  work  carried  on  in  their 
home  villages  in  Canton  provinces  by  many  if  not  all  the 
denominational  groups  of  Chinese  Christians  is  one  of  the  most 
significant  results  of  mission  work  for  Chinese  in  the  United 
States.  Every  religious  organization  in  that  part  of  Canton 
province  from  which  Chinese  have  come  to  America  testifies  to 
the  very  considerable  share  of  its  moral  and  financial  support 
which  comes  from  returned  emigrants  or  those  still  in  the 
United  States. 

In  the  Oriental  communities  here,  as  well,  the  influence  and 
leadership  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  Christians  is  far  above  the 
proportion  of  their  members.  Chinese  and  Japanese  Christians 


are  editors  and  teachers,  secretaries  of  farmers'  and  business 
men's  associations,  leaders  and  speakers  in  campaigns  that 
involve  the  general  interest  of  their  countrymen. 

Nevertheless  there  are  still  large  communities  of  Chinese  and 
Japanese  very  slightly  influenced  by  Christian  missionary  work. 
Tens  of  thousands  of  Orientals  in  the  United  States  are  too  far 
away  from  any  established  mission  work  to  be  at  all  influenced, 
and  tens  of  thousands  more,  particularly  among  the  Chinese, 
have  become  so  hardened,  as  a  result  of  American  indifference 
and  contempt,  that  they  can  no  longer  be  touched  by  a  much 
belated  Gospel  message.  Many  of  the  unevangelized  Orientals 
could  be  reached  by  traveling  evangelists,  and  much  has  been 
done  particularly  among  4he  Japanese,  but  the  possibilities  of 
such  work  have  so  far  been  hardly  conceived.  The  amount  of 
co-operation  from  non-Christian  Japanese  which  can  be  secured 
for  a  campaign  of  addresses,  and  the  number  of  Japanese  Asso- 
ciation halls  freely  open  to  a  Christian  speaker  should  stimulate 
missionary  boards  to  provide  more  men  adapted  to  such  work. 
Recent  experience  proves  that  the  fanning  communities  which 
have  been  so  largely  overlooked  in  the  program  of  Oriental 
missions  offer  by  far  the  most  encouraging  fields  for  new  enter- 
prises. Japanese  Buddhists  with  a  keener  sense  of  religious 
strategy  than  is  shown  by  most  mission  boards,  put  their  largest 
finest  plants  in  centers  of  a  large  agricultural  population,  like 
Sacramento  and  Fresno. 

When  the  full  census  reports  are  available  showing  Chinese 
and  Japanese  populations  by  counties  in  the  Pacific  Coast  states 
a  chart  could  be  prepared  indicating  the  congestion  of  Oriental 
mission  work  in  a  few  places  and  the  large  neglected  areas.  It 
is  sufficient  now  to  say  that  Western  Washington  and  the 
Yakima  Valley,  the  Hood  River  Valley  in  Oregon,  Idaho,  Utah, 
Wyoming,  Colorado  and  Western  Nebraska  are  very  inade- 
quately provided  with  missionary  work  for  Japanese,  and  that 
in  the  same  territory  there  are  also  many  considerable  com- 
munities of  Chinese  without  any  religious  effort  made  for  them. 
In  this  region  the  few  Japanese  pastors  and  some  Americans 
have  done  splendid  work  as  traveling  evangelists,  but  very 
much  more  of  such  work  is  needed.  A  list  is  available  of 
twelve  Japanese  communities  in  Washington  whose  only  religious 
opportunity  is  the  infrequent  visit  of  an  American  missionary, 
and  a  similar  list  of  mining  and  railroad  towns  with  large 
Japanese  groups  in  Wyoming.  Any  of  the  Year-Books  published 
by  the  Japanese  newspapers  could  be  used  as  check  lists  for 
the  large  number  of  untouched  communities. 

New  work  for  Orientals  is,  however,  being  undertaken  even 
by  responsible  mission  boards  without  adequate  and  comprehen- 
sive missionary  surveys,  with  little  knowledge  of  approved 
methods  in  mission  work  and  with  little  consideraton  of  racial 
problems  whose  solution  must  be  involved  in  any  successful  mis- 
sionary work.  Two  organizations  which  have  recently  com- 
menced work  for  Orientals  in  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles 


have  justified  their  entry  into  a  crowded  field  by  the  necessity 
of  caring  for  those  affiliated  with  their  work  in  Japan  who  have 
come  to  America.  But  we  must  not  hastily  assume  that 
disregard  of  relations  with  already  established  work,  and  the 
ignoring  of  recognized  principles  in  missionary  operation  are 
primarily,  the  result  of  sectarian  spirit.  It  is  generally  under- 
stood by  most  workers  in  Oriental  missions  that  our  denomina- 
tional differences  do  not  mean  much  to  the  Oriental.  The 
effort  of  each  church  to  establish  its  own  Oriental  work  indicates 
a  zeal  and  a  missionary  ambition  which  is  most  creditable.  It 
should,  however,  be  directed  more  efficiently  if  the  proportion- 
ately large  sums  invested  in  Oriental  missions  by  so  many 
separate  agencies  are  to  produce  adequate  results. 

One  of  the  most  encouraging  facts  of  Oriental  missions  is 
the  very  generous  response  of  both  Chinese  and  Japanese  to 
interdenominational  Christian  enterprises  originated  and  con- 
trolled by  themselves,  such  as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
the  Chinese  Christian  Union  of  San  Francisco,  the  Japanese 
Dendo  Dan,  Christian  hospitals  and  other  societies  for  mutual 
benefit.  The  rapid  development  of  such  enterprises,  maintained 
largely  if  not  wholly  by  the  work  and  gifts  of  Orientals,  compels 
one  to  ponder  on  the  fact  that  liberal  appropriations  from  an 
American  missionary  society  are  not  the  necessary  conditions 
and  guarantees  of  success.  Promoters  of  Oriental  missions  have 
often  made  the  mistake  of  attempting  to  hasten  growth  with 
money.  Eagerness  to  get  results  tempts  to  the  free  use  of 
money,  when  obtainable,  on  plant  equipment  and  salaries  of 
workers.  But  Christian  character  and  initiative  among  Orientals 
do  not  seem  to  show  corresponding  increase.  One  is  often 
surprised  at  the  response  from  the  Christian  constituency  which 
comes  apparently  without  any  relation  to  the  question  of  financial 
help  from  a  missionary  board. 

Mention  should  be  made  of  the  Christian  publications,  local, 
denominational  and  interdenominational,  which  form  such  an 
important  part  of  the  evangelizing  agencies  and  helps  to  Chris- 
tian growth  in  both  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  missions.  Japa- 
nese especially  have  recognized  the  value  of  Christian  periodi- 
cals, and  Japanese  pastors  have  devoted  much  time  and  splendid 
ability  to  editing  and  publishing  church  papers.  Many  small 
sheets  have  given  news  and  Christian  teaching  to  the  Japanese 
of  a  single  community,  and  there  seems  to  have  been  a  con- 
siderable waste  of  effort  and  missing  of  opportunity  because 
the  energy  and  devotion  of  the  various  pastors  could  not  be 
mobilized  for  one  united  Christian  paper.  The  Chinese  gave 
up  their  union  Christian  magazine,  the  "Light  Bearer"  several 
years  ago,  for  lack  of  financial  support,  and  the  effort  to  make 
the  Japanese  paper,  the  "New  Heaven  and  Earth"  an  effective 
missionary  agency  of  all  the  churches  has  been  seriously  hindered 
for  the  same  reason.  When  Chinese  and  Japanese  Christians 
are  ready  to  give  so  generously  of  thought  and  time  to  the 
making  and  distributing  of  Christian  newspapers,  it  seems 


stragetic  for  mission  boards  to  adequately  finance  such  enter- 
prises. 

The  recent  great  extension  of  Roman  Catholic  missions  for 
Orientals  compels  us  to  consider  carefully  how  we  may  increase 
the  efficiency  of  our  Protestant  work.  The  expenditure  of  large 
additional  sums  for  a  growing  number  of  small  separate  de- 
nominational units  will  be  utterly  wasted  in  the  face  of  the 
united  and  determined  attack  upon  our  wrork  which  is  now  being 
planned  by  the  Catholic  church.  It  ought  seriously  to  be  con- 
sidered whether  the  mere  increase  of  resources  or  material 
equipment  of  our  separate  missionary  undertakings  will  enable 
us  even  to  hold  our  own  against  this  powerful  and  ruthless 
competitor  in  its  present  plans  for  Oriental  mission  work  in 
San  Francisco.  New  co-operative  methods,  new  confidence  in 
the  leadership  of  Christian  Orientals,  and  a  new  social  approach 
to  the  Christian  problem  of  Orientals  in  the  United  States,  may 
count  for  more  than  enlarged  appropriations  to  separate  de- 
nominational enterprises. 

Los  Angeles,  San  Francisco  and  Seattle  are  the  most  notable 
instances  of  congested  Oriental  populations,  and  for  that  reason 
afford  the  most  striking  exhibitions  of  the  inadequacy  of  com- 
petitive missionary  methods  and  the  most  inviting  fields  for 
experiments  in  missionary  co-operation.  Sacramento  and  Fresno 
in  California  have  also  Oriental  populations,  and  several  separate 
and  inadequate  units  of  missionary  work  for  Chinese  and 
Japanese.  In  most  other  cities  and  towns  where  there  is  a 
considerable  Oriental  population,  in  the  neglected  country 
districts,  and  in  the  inter-mountain  region  of  Idaho,  Utah, 
Wyoming  and  Colorado,  the  inadequacy  of  Christian  effort  for 
Orientals  is  due  not  to  competition,  but  to  the  insistence  of  each 
mission  board  on  centralizing  its  efforts  in  one  or  all  of  the 
three  large  coast  cities.  Neglected  fields  are  an  inevitable  result 
when  every  mission  board  must  have  a  big  work  in  San 
Francisco.  Probably  65%  of  all  mission  board  appropriations 
for  Chinese  mission  work  is  spent  in  the  San  Francisco  Bay 
region,  though  only  about  one-fourth  of  the  Chinese  population 
of  California  resides  there. 

Los  Angeles  has  a  much  smaller  Chinese  population,  with  four 
Chinese  missions,  three  denominational  and  one  independent, 
each  of  them  in  utterly  inadequate  quarters,  and  almost  within 
sight  of  one  another.  Two  other  denominations  had  missions  in 
the  same  neighborhood  until  recently  and  a  third  denomination 
closed  its  mission  for  Chinese  near  there  only  a  few  years  ago. 
One  denomination  owns  three  valuable  pieces  of  property  for 
its  Chinese  mission  work,  but  for  various  reasons  rents  rooms 
close  to  the  other  missions. 

The  Japanese  missions  in  Los  Angeles,  San  Francisco  and 
Seattle  are  more  widely  scattered,  but  in  the  two  latter  cities 
are  all  within  a  few  blocks  of  one  another.  Recently  two  new 
missionary  enterprises  have  pushed  into  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood of  established  work  in  Los  Angeles,  producing  conditions 

9 


almost  as  bad  as  in  the  Chinese  work.  In  Sacramento  also 
the  three  Chinese  missions  and  four  Japanese  missions  are 
within  a  few  blocks  of  each  other. 

The  utter  inadequacy  of  the  plants  of  the  Chinese  and  Japa- 
nese missions,  except  in  a  very  few  cases,  outside  of  San 
Francisco,  still  further  emphasizes  the  strategic  weakness  of 
these  small  separate  units.  As  a  community  force  they  do  not 
and  cannot  exert  the  influence  that  one  well-equipped  building 
as  a  center  of  united  religious  activity  and  social  service  could 
provide. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  disheartening  aspects  of  a  survey 
of  Chinese  missions  is  their  failure  to  materially  affect  the 
general  community  life  of  the  segregated  Chinese  groups. 
Gambling,  importation  of  slave  girls,  smuggling  and  sale  of 
opium,  tong  wars,  social  vice,  do  not  seem  to  be  much  hindered 
by  the  activities  of  our  Christian  missions.  In  many  towns 
and  cities  Chinese  gambling  houses  are  conducted  almost 
openly  with  little  or  no  protest  from  the  Oriental  or  the 
American  Christian  community. 

Something  has  been  done  in  the  way  of  community  service, 
however;  Chinese  and  Japanese  of  the  various  denominations 
have  gotten  together  in  organizations  to  bury  their  dead,  to 
protect  their  members  from  extortion  by  non-Christians,  to 
secure  legal  assistance,  for  union  picnics,  and  in  a  few  instances 
for  hospitals,  kindergartens  and  children's  homes.  The  Japanese 
have  undertaken  campaigns  to  develop  and  guide  public  senti- 
ment and  the  Chinese  Christians  have  taken  active  part  in 
movements  for  national  reform  in  China.  Japanese  Christians 
have  aided  materially  in  urging  patience  and  understanding  of 
American  conditions  among  the  masses  of  their  countrymen  who 
were  smarting  under  their  disabilities ;  and  Christian  leaders 
have  helped  in  Americanization  campaigns  among  the  Japanese. 

But  there  has  been  too  little  effort  on  the  part  of  our  church 
workers  unitedly  to  fight  local  community  evils,  to  offer  recrea- 
tional facilities  in  place  of  gambling  and  vice,  to  develop  local 
public  spirit,  to  provide  adequate  hospital,  library,  gymnasium, 
public  lecture  and  entertainment  opportunities  for  the  Oriental 
communities. 

The  most  lamentable  failure  in  our  contacts  with  Oriental 
communities  in  the  United  States  has  been  our  civic  and 
religious  indifference  to  the  conditions  of  their  community  life. 
We  may  well  question  whether  the  economic  and  political 
handicaps  under  which  Orientals  labor  have  not  predisposed  us 
against  expecting  from  them  and  them  from  undertaking  the 
normal  development  of  organized  Christian  community  life  such 
as  is  expected  in  the  case  of  other  immigrants. 

One  may  say  in  general  of  Oriental  mission  work  that,  like 
Topsy,  it  "just  growed."  It  has  often  lacked  co-operation  and 
co-ordination  of  teachers  and  discipline  of  pupils;  it  has  lacked 
definiteness  of  aim;  it  has  lacked  social  vision,  failing  to  sense 
the  social  implications  of  the  gospel;  it  often  failed  to  develop 

10 


an  inter-racial  spirit,  able  to  understand  differences  in  racial 
psychology,  yet  give  them  their  subordinate  place,  and  emphasize 
the  common  human  qualities  which  make  all  races  not  nominally 
but  actually  one.  The  Christian  purpose  and  the  Christian  aim 
has  been  strong  and  undiscouraged  through  the  whole  history 
of  Oriental  missions  of  so  many  denominations,  but  there  has 
been  much  zeal  without  knowledge. 

And  yet  they  have  achieved  notable  results.  Aside  from  all 
the  splendid  individual  characters,  of  Chinese,  Japanese  and 
Koreans  developed  through  the  inspiring  contact  with  devoted 
American  teachers,  aside  from  the  great  and  vital  Christian 
community  of  Oriental  Christians  which  has  grown  up  in  the 
United  States  as  a  result  of  their  work,  aside  from  the  incalcu- 
lable influence  of  Oriental  mission  w'ork  in  this  country  upon  the 
progress  of  Christianity  in  Asia,  and  upon  international  relations, 
it  should  be  remembered  that  Oriental  missions  in  the  United 
States  have  captured  the  imagination  of  American  Christians  in 
a  very  unusual  way,  have  established  a  method  for  later  Chris- 
tian work  among  other  foreigners  and  for  the  recent  general 
Americanization  movement,  and  have  done  more  than  we  realize 
to  make  Christians  in  the  United  States  understand,  believe  in 
and  accept  the  consequences  of  foreign  missions. 

The  pressure  of  the  Oriental  problem  in  the  United  States  is 
now  compelling  Christian  people,  who  have  in  a  tentative  and 
experimental  way  supported  missions  for  Orientals  on  this  side 
and  on  the  other  side  of  the  Pacific,  to  choose  whether  they 
will  trust  this  solution  for  all  inter-racial  and  international  diffi- 
culties, whether  they  will  regard  Christian  missions  to  aliens 
here  or  elsewhere  as  a  casual  kindness  or  as  a  real  program  for 
uniting  the  world  in  a  brotherhood  of  service.  Many  mission- 
aries in  China  and  Japan,  as  individuals,  and  now  a  specially 
organized  interdenominational  committee  of  missionaries  in 
Japan  are  recognizing  the  heavy  handicap  on  their  work  across 
the  Pacific  unless  Christians  in  the  United  States  whole-heartedly 
accept  the  logical  consequences  of  preaching  the  gospel  to 
Chinese  and  Japanese,  and  adequately  apply  this  method  of 
reconciliation  between  races,  which,  otherwise,  will  come  into 
inevitable  conflict. 

The  time  has  doubtless  come  in  the  history  of  Oriental  mis- 
sions when  we  ought  no  longer  to  be  satisfied  with  their  hap- 
hazard development  even  though  we  fully  appraise  their  accom- 
plishments. The  work  can  no  longer  grow  by  unrelated  accre- 
tion; it  must  grow  by  organization  if  it  is  to  function  efficiently. 
The  American  churches  have  faced  this  necessity,  and  without 
losing  denominational  identity  have  developed  within  the  last 
twenty  years  a  very  considerable  amount  of  unifying  machinery, 
such  as  the  Home  Missions  Council,  which  has  called  this 
conference.  The  Oriental  mission  work  requires  a  unifying 
principle  and  method  which  without  diminishing  in  any  Ameri- 
can church  its  sense  of  interest  and  responsibility,  shall  gradually 
organize  the  whole  into  many-sided  efficiency. 

11 


REVIEW  OF  PLANS  AND  POLICIES  OF  CO- 
OPERATION IN  ORIENTAL  WORK  ON 
THE  PACIFIC  COAST. 

BY  DR.  H.  B.  JOHNSON. 
Supt.  of  Pacific  Japanese  Missions,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  committee  which  assigned  this  topic  evidently  designed 
it  to  be  historical.  It  certainly  is  very  inclusive.  Generally 
speaking,  much  more  interest  has  been  shown  and  much  more 
progress  made  in  co-operation  in  Japanese  Mission  Work  on  the 
Coast  than  in  Chinese  Work. 

Chinese. 

In  the  cities  for  the  most  part,  in  contrast  with  the  Japanese, 
the  Chinese  live  quite  apart  from  the  Anglo-Saxons  in  so-called 
China  Towns.  None  of  the  communities  are  larger  than  an 
ordinary  country  town,  yet  Chinese  missions  of  various  kinds 
are  numerous.  Los  Angeles,  with  a  very  small  Chinese  com- 
munity, has  five  missions;  Portland  with  1,800  has  four  or 
five;  Oakland  with  about  2,000  has  seven,  and  San  Francisco 
with  7,000  has  twelve.  Many  of  the  smaller  communities  are 
almost  entirely  neglected  except  as  they  are  provided  for  by 
local  churches. 

Hence,  there  would  seem  to  be  an  urgent  need  for  co-opera- 
tion both  in  the  interest  of  economy  and  of  efficiency.  This  is 
true  of  religious  work  and  of  educational  and  social  features  as 
well.  Religious  work  is  almost  impossible  where  there  is  no 
knowledge  of  the  language.  Thus  there  is  necessity  and  urgency 
of  re-organizing  or  abandoning  some  of  the  existing  missions 
which  are  not  adequately  provided  with  workers,  in  the  interest 
of  the  development  of  the  spiritual  life  of  whole  com- 
munities. As  to  the  educational  and  social  features,  here  again 
efficiency  can  be  greatly  increased  by  combining  in  larger  groups. 
The  special  difficulty  in  adjustment  grows  out  of  the  many 
independent  missions  which  are  not  directly  related  to  de- 
nominations or  denominational  boards. 

For  the  most  part,  there  has  been  a  fine  spirit  of  co-operation 
among  those  ministering  to  the  Chinese,  manifested  in  workers' 
meetings  for  prayer  and  consultation,  and  in  interdenominational 
revival  meetings  held  during  the  past  few  years  which  have 
been  very  successful.  While  comparatively  little  seems  to  have 
been  done  by  way  of  more  complete  co-operation,  plans  are 
now  developing  looking  toward  a  re-organization  of  the  educa- 
tional work  of  several  of  the  missions,  with  a  view  of  preventing 
overlapping  so  far  as  possible  and  of  developing  higher  efficiency. 

Korean. 

At  the  time  of  the  earthquake  and  fire  in  1906,  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  was  conducting  missions  for  Koreans  in  San 
Francisco  and  in  Los  Angeles  and  ministering  to  a  few 
scattered  Korean  communities.  The  greatest  embarrassment 

12 


was  in  a  lack  of  efficient  workers.  On  this  account,  an  agree- 
ment was  entered  into  between  Doctor  C.  F.  Reid  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  who  had  been  a  missionary  in  Korea,  and  the 
present  writer  with  the  sanction  of  both  mission  boards,  by 
which  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  withdrew  from  Korean 
wrork  in  San  Francisco  and  Northern  California,  and  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  from  Japanese  work  in  San  Francisco. 

About  the  same  time,  the  Presbyterian  Church,  North,  de- 
veloped some  missionary  work  for  Koreans  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, and  later  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  extended  its  work 
to  Sacramento  and  other  parts  of  Central  and  Northern  Cali- 
fornia. There  seems  to  be  a  natural  division  of  the  field  and 
no  overlapping,  the  Presbyterians  looking  after  the  Koreans 
in  Southern  California  and  the  M.  £.  Church,  South,  in  the 
northern  half  of  the  state. 

East  Indians. 

For  a  time,  Doctor  A.  Wesley  Mell,  coast  secretary  of  the 
American  Bible  Society  and  a  former  missionary  in  India,  gave 
considerable  attention  to  the  immigrants  from  India  in  Cali- 
fornia. This  was  in  co-operation  with  the  Standing  Committee  of 
Workers  among  Orientals  of  which  more  will  be  said  later. 
For  a  time,  a  missionary  was  employed  to  work  among  this 
scattered  people,  and  later  the  committee  employed  Brother 
Carlson,  a  native  Methodist  preacher  secured  from  India.  On 
account  of  the  anti-British  campaign,  carried  on  in  this  country 
by  certain  Hindus,  he  was  under  suspicion  of  the  East  Indian 
residents  here  and  was  obliged  to  discontinue  the  work.  With 
the  exception  of  some  Baptist  work  in  Southern  California,  all 
that  has  been  done  for  this  needy  people  so  far  has  been  inter- 
denominationally  in  this  co-operative  way. 

Japanese. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  the  first  to  begin  work 
for  the  Japanese  in  this  country,  the  work  being  started  in  the 
Chinese  mission  on  Washington  Street.  The  Japanese  work  of 
this  church  is  much  more  extensive  than  that  of  any  other,  it 
having  missions  in  California,  Oregon,  Washington,  Colorado 
and  Nebraska.  The  Presbyterian  Church.  North,  was  next. 
Doctor  E.  A.  Sturge  has  been  in  continuous  service  from  1886 
to  the  present  time.  The  Congregational  Japanese  missions 
largely  grew  out  of  the  Chinese  missions  of  that  church,  under 
the  direction  of  Doctor  W.  C.  Pond.  They  are  now  super- 
intended by  Doctor  G.  W.  Hinman,  secretary  of  the  American 
Missionary  Association.  The  Baptist  work  has  been  largely 
confined  to  Seattle  and  Tacoma,  though  more  recently  they 
have  opened  work  at  San  Pedro  in  this  state.  The  principal 
mission  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  is  at  Alameda,  California, 
which  field  the  other  denominations  have  entirely  left  to  them. 
They  also  have  missions  at  Oakland,  Walnut  Grove  and  else- 
where, the  only  duplication  being  at  Oakland.  Doctor  and  Mrs. 

13 


William  Acton  are  joint  superintendents  of  this  work,  includ- 
ing that  among  the  Koreans.  The  Christian  Church  has  mis- 
sions at  Los  Angeles,  Berkeley  and  San  Bernardino.  The  first 
named  is  well  equipped  and  provides  for  institutional  work.  The 
Friends  have  labored  principally  at  Whittier  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, though  their  evangelists  have  covered  needy  fields  in 
various  parts  of  Southern  California.  The  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  has  several  missions,  generally  quite  closely  related  to 
their  American  churches.  The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United 
States  a  few  years  ago  entered  San  Francisco  and  has  quite 
recently  established  mission  work  in  Los  Angeles.  Later  the 
Nazarene  Church,  the  Free  Methodist  Church  and  the  Salvation 
Army  entered  the  field.  The  Nazarene  Church  has  quite 
recently  been  succeeded  by  the  Free  Methodist  Church  in 
Berkeley.  Several  independent  churches  have  been  formed, 
some  of  which  have  been  adopted  by  the  various  denominations, 
as  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  Long  Beach  and  the  Christian 
in  Berkeley.  There  is  an  independent  or  Union  Church  at 
Pasadena  which  is  quite  closely  related  to  the  Congregational 
Church.  The  latest  independent  church  to  be  established  is  at 
Calexico,  in  the  Imperial  Valley,  which  is  conceded  to  be  the 
territory  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Cordial  relations 
are  being  maintained,  and  some  adjustment  may  later  be  made. 
As  to  co-operation,  there  have  been  two  quite  distinct  move- 
ments. The  mission  superintendents  and  certain  others  are 
organized  as  a  standing  committee  of  workers  among  Orientals. 
This  organization  is  working  under  a  constitution  approved  by 
the  Home  Missions  Council  and  is  the  representative  of  that 
Council  in  its  Oriental  work.  It  was  born  out  of  necessity  and 
resulted  largely  from  negotiations  looking  toward  closer  co- 
operation in  Japanese  work.  At  a  meeting  held  September  26, 
1906,  in  Berkeley,  Doctor  Sturge  presented  a  proposed  consti- 
tution for  an  interdenominational  Home  Missionary  Society  and 
after  rather  extended  discussion  the  late  Doctor  Reid  moved 
that  as  missionary  workers  we  organize  the  Pacific  Coast 
Association  of  Mission  Workers  to  meet  quarterly  for  the  pur- 
pose of  promoting  the  best  interests  of  the  work  among 
Orientals.  This  was  carried.  The  present  organization  is  the 
outgrowth.  It  is  not  confined  to  Japanese  workers,  but  to 
Christian  workers  among  all  Orientals  though  it  grew  out  of 
proposed  plans  for  federation  in  Japanese  work.  The  principal 
benefits  have  been  in  the  development  of  fellowship  through 
regular  meetings,  the  division  of  the  field,  in  part,  and  so  far 
as  possible  in  the  prevention  of  overlapping.  The  powers  of 
the  committee  are  largely  advisory.  Quoting  a  departmental 
secretary  in  a  published  article  in  June  of  the  present  year,  "At 
the  recent  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  and  Church 
Extension  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  that  Board  took 
definite  action  favoring  co-operation  with  other  denominations 
in  adjusting  missionary  relationships.  The  responsibility  for 
determining  whether  missionary  aid  shall  or  shall  not  be  granted 

14 


in  a  given  case  rests  with  the  Bishop  and  the  District  Super- 
intendent in  charge."  So  far  as  the  present  writer  knows,  no 
other  denomination  has  yielded  its  authority  in  this  matter, 
though  there  is  a  strong  desire  on  the  part  of  all  concerned  for 
the  most  complete  co-operation. 

The  other  movement  referred  to  is  by  the  Japanese  them- 
selves. Many  proposals  have  been  made  and  not  a  few  con- 
stitutions printed  for  approval  or  adoption.  The  earliest  was 
for  a  Japanese  Christian  League  in  America  with  headquarters 
in  San  Francisco.  Its  objects  were  very  worthy  but  its  con- 
stitution of  twelve  rather  elaborate  articles  broke  down  by  over- 
weight. 

In  May,  1906,  following  the  earthquake  and  fire  in  San 
Francisco  and  in  view  of  the  need  of  reconstruction,  plans  were 
proposed  for  a  Union  Japanese  Church  in  America.  The  mission 
superintendents,  as  well  as  the  pastors  gave  a  good  deal  of  time 
to  discussing  it,  continuing  on  into  September.  The  failure 
was  due  to  the  plans  being  too  elaborate  and  far-reaching,  and 
to  their  being  too  congregational  in  polity.  However,  the  cause 
of  co-operation  was  furthered  by  the  discussion. 

In  1911  the  Dendo  Dan  was  formed.  This  means  an  inter- 
denominational Board  of  Missions.  Quoting  the  constitution, 
"The  object  shall  be  to  propagate  the  gospel;  to  elevate  moral 
standards,  and  to  promote  the  public  welfare  of  the  Japanese 
on  the  Pacific  Coast."  This  Board  did  an  unusually  fine  piece 
of  work  for  several  years,  especially  after  uniting  with  the 
Southern  California  Church  Alliance  in  1913.  It  published  the 
Shin  Tenchi  which  had  a  wide  circulation,  even  outside  of 
Christian  circles.  The  budget  for  1913,  including  salaries  of 
the  secretary  and  two  evangelists,  and  travelling  and  office 
expenses,  was  four  thousand  dollars,  not  including  a  small  debt. 
This  society  had  a  unifying  influence  upon  the  Japanese  churches 
and  did  an  extensive  and  successful  work  among  the  scattered 
Japanese.  It  failed  in  depending  too  largely  upon  non-Christian 
Japanese  for  financial  support,  and  in  regarding  the  mission 
superintendents  as  advisers  rather  than  co-workers.  The 
Southern  Branch  of  the  Dendo  Dan,  with  headquarters  in 
Los  Angeles,  still  continues  without  paid  officers. 

During  the  existence  of  the  Dendo  Dan,  an  attempt  was  made 
to  organize  "The  Federation  of  the  Japanese  Churches  in 
America."  Again  a  constitution  was  printed.  Quoting  this 
document,  "The  purpose  of  the  federation  shall  be  to  promote 
the  unity  of  Japanese  churches  in  America,  both  in  spirit  and 
work;  to  devise  measures  for  the  carrying  on  of  enterprises  of 
common  interest;  to  encourage  and  assist  local  churches  in  their 
endeavors  for  the  edification  of  their  members  and  the  dis- 
semination of  the  gospel  of  Christ  among  the  Japanese."  This 
organization  never  came  into  actual  being.  The  proposed  con- 
stitution did  not  seem  to  be  generally  satisfactory.  The  proposi- 
tion to  have  the  headquarters  in  San  Francisco  had  its  in- 
fluence. 

15 


Other  attempts  have  been  made  but  without  success.  In 
April  last,  a  federation  was  formed  in  San  Francisco  and 
officers  elected,  but  for  various  reasons  little  progress  has 
been  made.  Growing  out  of  some  Union  Evangelistic  Meetings 
during  the  past  year  in  Seattle,  a  federation  was  formed  in  that 
city.  I  am  not  informed  as  to  particulars,  but  assume  that  it 
is  a  simple  organization  looking  toward  co-operative  work. 

In  January,  1913,  negotiations  were  carried  on  between  Dr. 
Hinman,  representing  the  American  Missionary  Association, 
and  Dr.  Mark  Matthews,  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Seattle,  looking  toward  a  Federated  Japanese  Church.  Other 
denominations  were  also  invited  to  co-operate.  The  plan  was 
for  "The  Japanese  Members  of  the  Separate  Churches  to 
come  together  in  a  Federated  Church,  which  shall  conduct  its 
worship,  care  for  its  members,  and  prosecute  local  Evangelistic 
efforts  as  one  united  body  of  Christians."  The  plan  was  not 
carried  out. 

At  the  present  time  the  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists 
are  co-operating  in  three  federated  churches — at  San  Francisco, 
Los  Angeles,  and  Salt  Lake  City.  The  one  at  San  Francisco 
seems  to  be  more  particularly  under  Presbyterian  leadership  and 
the  one  at  Los  Angeles  under  Congregational  influence.  One 
thing  that  was  strongly  desired  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
realized,  namely  the  securing  of  outstanding  pastors  to  headup 
these  organizations.  If  this  cannot  be  done,  it  is  a  question 
whether  this  form  of  organization  is  best.  It  results  in  a  loss 
of  workers  without  a  corresponding  gain.  If  the  Union  is  for 
efficiency  rather  than  economy  there  are  some  advantages.  The 
difficulty  with  a  church  of  this  type  is  that  it  is  likely  to  become 
self-centered  and  to  lose  vital  touch  with  larger  denominational 
interests. 

The  Congregational  and  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches  are 
co-operating  in  a  federated  Japanese  church  at  Riverside.  Both 
have  property  which  is  being  used.  The  plans  provide  that 
the  denominational  apportionments  for  benevolences  should  be 
raised,  and  so  far  this  has  been  done.  After  three  successful 
years,  the  Methodists  have  recently  passed  this  work  to  the 
Congregationalists,  the  work  to  be  continued  under  joint  sup- 
port and  joint  supervision.  In  all  these  cases,  the  Sunday 
Schools  have  doubtless  been  greatly  benefitted  through  this 
co-operation. 

Experience  does  not  show  that  Union  Churches  are  a  success. 
Federated  Churches  are  in  their  experimental  stage.  Where 
possible,  the  field  should  be  divided,  and  the  denominations  to 
which  assignments  are  made  should  be  trusted  to  carry  on  and 
develop  the  work  for  the  Kingdom.  If  there  has  been  failure 
in  the  past,  it  is  largely  due  to  too  much  discussion  and  too 
minute  plans.  This  is  an  age  of  co-operation,  and  a  way  must 
be  found  for  practical  co-operation  in  mission  work  in  order 
that  benevolent  funds  may  be  conserved  and  the  entire  field 
reached  in  the  most  effective  way. 

16 


In  closing  I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  fine  co-operation 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Through  the  field  and 
immigration  departments,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  has  been  most  help- 
ful in  looking  after  Japanese  women.  Both  of  these  organiza- 
tions have  Japanese  Departments  in  San  Francisco  and  their 
influence  is  felt  throughout  the  state.  These  interdenominational 
organizations  can  be  very  helpful  in  co-operative  work. 

SUCCESSES  AND  FAILURES  IN  THE  EVANGELIZA- 
TION OF  ORIENTALS. 

BY  DR.  E.  A.  STURGE. 
Supt.  of  Presbyterian  Japanese  Work  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

A  brief  outline  of  efforts  made  for  the  evangelization  of 
Orientals  in  the  United  States,  and  especially  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  has  been  requested  by  the  committee  appointed  to  pre- 
pare for  this  Interdenominational  Missionary  Conference.  The 
object  of  this  paper  is  to  show  the  degree  of  success  or  failure 
that  has  attended  the  work  of  giving  the  gospel  to  the  Chinese, 
Japanese,  and  other  Orientals,  who  have  come  to  this  country; 
and,  if  possible,  to  point  out  the  causes  that  have  helped  in 
the  attainment  of  the  desired  end,  as  well  as  those  that  have 
militated  against  it,  in  order  that  definite  conclusions  may  be 
arrived  at,  and  measures  adopted,  that  will  make  for  greater 
efficiency  in  the  future. 

Influenced  by  the  stones  of  the  wealth  of  California,  the 
Chinese  were  the  first  Orientals  to  come  to  this  land,  and,  as 
soon  as  there  were  a  sufficient  number  of  these  strangers  from 
the  other  side  of  the  Pacific  in  any  American  community,  efforts 
more  or  less  successful  were  made  to  Christianize  them.  We 
must  not  forget  that  it  was  material  things  that  attracted  these 
Orientals  to  our  shores,  and  this  may  be  the  reason  why  they 
have  not  proved  the  best  of  soil  in  which  to  sow  the  gospel 
seed.  The  Japanese,  on  the  other  hand,  especially  those  who 
came  to  America  in  the  early  years,  were  seeking  truth  rather 
than  money,  and  it  was  a  comparatively  easy  matter  to  lead 
them  to  Christ,  but  a  rather  difficult  thing  to  hold  them  there. 
In  our  field,  we  have  found  the  soil  to  be  like  that  depicted  by 
the  Master.  The  Koreans  show  the  best  results  from  the 
least  labor.  The  Japanese  may  be  compared  to  the  stony  soil 
hearers.  Quick  results  reward  the  efforts  of  the  spirituaV 
farmer,  but  the  fruit  is  of  a  less  enduring  kind  than  we  are 
likely  to  find  in  the  Chinese,  who  furnish  excellent  soil,  though 
the  growth  of  the  grain  is  apt  to  be  choked  by  the  weeds  of 
materialism. 

Not  much  effort  has  been  made  to  evangelize  the  Hindoos 
in  this  land,  as  their  hearts  seem  as  hard  as  the  great  State 
Highway.  The  same  methods  cannot  be  employed  in  dealing 
with  the  peoples  from  different  nations.  To  the  materialistic 
Chinese,  the  school  makes  the  strongest  appeal.  So,  from  the 

17 


beginning — sixty-six  years  ago,  the  Chinese  have  been  drawn 
into  the  churches  by  means  of  the  mission  schools.  The  study 
of  English  as  a  means  to  greater  material  blessings  has  been 
the  object  of  most  of  the  pupils  attending  the  mission  night 
schools.  Now  and  then  a  student  became  interested  in  higher 
things,  and  little  groups  of  those  so  interested  formed  the 
nucleii  of  the  Chinese  churches ;  but,  from  the  start,  the  Chinese 
churches  have  formed  around  the  school,  as  a  pearl  may  have 
for  its  heart  a  grain  of  sand.  In  the  Japanese  work  on  this 
Coast — which  goes  back  only  about  thirty-five  years —  the  evan- 
gelistic and  not  the  educational  idea  has  been  uppermost.  Only 
in  a  few  instances  have  the  Japanese  churches  grown  out  of 
schools.  The  Presbyterians  never  asked  their  Board  for  a 
cent  to  be  expended  in  the  education  of  the  Japanese  of  San 
Francisco.  The  Japanese  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized 
in  1885  from  a  little  group  of  students,  who,  with  the  help  of 
a  dictionary,  but  without  a  teacher,  found  Christ  through  the 
study  of  an  old  Bible  that  had  come  into  their  hands.  The 
first  Christian  leader  of  the  Methodist  Japanese  in  this  country 
was  a  sailor  named  Miyama,  who  was  converted  while  sitting  on 
the  front  steps  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  then  located 
in  Stockton  Street,  where  our  Chinese  Presbyterian  Church 
now  stands.  This  man  became  an  evangelist  to  his  people  on 
this  Coast  and  then  in  Hawaii.  He  is  still  preaching  the  gospel 
in  Kamakura,  Japan.  It  is  true  that  most  of  the  Japanese 
missions  in  the  early  days  had  schools  for  the  study  of  English, 
and  some  of  them  have  them  yet;  but  in  all  cases  the  church 
has  been  the  center,  and  the  school  was  simply  one  of  the 
channels  of  usefulness  and  was  usually  under  the  pastor's  super- 
vision as  a  part  of  the  church  work. 

In  the  Japanese  church  schools  of  San  Francisco,  each  de- 
nomination has  its  special  line  of  work,  and  there  is  no  duplica- 
tion. The  Reformed  Church  has  a  very  good  kindergarten,  the 
Methodist  Church  conducts  a  school  for  advanced  students,  the 
Federated  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  Churches  have  only 
a  sewing  school  for  women,  to  whom  conversational  English  is 
taught  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  two  afternoons  each  week.  All  the 
churches  have  their  separate  Sunday  Schools,  though  three  of 
them  united  recently  in  a  Vacation  Bible  School.  As  the  result 
of  thirty-five  years  of  work  for  the  Japanese  of  San  Francisco, 
we  have  a  Japanese  Quarter,  which  morally  will  compare  very 
favorably  with  any  other  section  of  the  city.  There  is  no  open 
drinking  or  gambling,  no  prostitution,  no  graft.  A  policeman 
can  rarely  be  seen  in  that  section.  The  stores  are  closed  on 
Sundays.  The  most  influential  Japanese  daily  paper  is  owned 
and  edited  by  a  Christian.  Nearly  all  of  the  officers  in  the 
Japanese  Association  of  America  are  Christians.  Christian  senti- 
ment is  so  strong  in  the  community  that  a  Japanese  Club,  in 
which  gambling  was  to  be  allowed,  was  forced  to  abandon  its 
project.  The  Buddhist  Temple  is  a  social  center,  in  many 
respects  remarkably  like  a  Christian  church.  There  are  four 

18 


Protestant  churches,  with  a  Salvation  Army  and  a  fine  Roman 
Catholic  Mission.  There  is  also  an  efficient  interdenominational 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  There  is  greater  co-operation 
among  the  Japanese  Christians  than  can  be  found  among  the 
American  followers  of  Christ.  Until  recently,  "The  Dendo 
Dan,"  an  interdenominational  Japanese  Mission  Board,  receiving 
some  assistance  from  the  various  denominational  boards,  did  an 
ideal  evangelistic  work,  reaching  through  evangelists  and  a 
monthly  paper  the  Japanese  scattered  all  over  the  state.  It  is 
greatly  to  be  regretted  that  this  organization,  through  an  internal 
quarrel,  went  to  pieces. 

We  cannot  say  that  the  seven  thousand  Japanese  of  San 
Francisco  are  over-churched.  Though  the  six  or  seven  hundred 
professing  Christians  belonging  to  the  four  Protestant  churches 
might  easily  be  ministered  to  by  one  pastor,  we  can  hardly 
believe  that  the  results  in  the  community  would  be  as  good  as 
they  are  now  under  present  methods.  Though  only  about  five 
per  cent,  of  the  Japanese  in  the  United  States  are  professed 
Christians,  their  influence  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  their 
number. 

When  we  glance  at  Chinatown  of  San  Francisco,  or  at  the 
Chinese  quarter  of  any  California  city,  we  find  that  the  gospel 
has  failed  to  make  any  very  marked  impression  upon  these 
Orientals.  We  find  the  highbinder  societies  or  tongs,  and  graft 
in  its  worst  form,  for  which  the  Chinese  are  hardly  to  blame, 
with  human  slavery,  opium  smoking,  gambling,  and  other  forms 
of  evil.  Sixty-six  years  of  Christian  work  have  failed  to  make 
the  Chinese  community  safe  and  decent.  This  is  doubtless 
largely  due  to  the  unresponsive  natures  of  these  Asiatics,  who 
have  been  hardened  by  the  treatment  they  have  received  in  this 
supposedly  Christian  country.  There  seems  to  be  a  great  lack 
of  native  Chinese  Christian  leadership.  While  every  Japanese 
church  has  a  pastor,  who  has  had  a  thorough  theological  train- 
ing, including  the  study  of  Greek  and  Hebrew,  the  pastors  of 
the  Chinese  churches  have  not  had  these  advantages  and  do  not 
seem  to  be  so  well  fitted  as  are  the  Japanese  for  their  high 
office.  The  Chinese,  though  they  get  together  for  union  evan- 
gelistic services,  are  not  organized  to  work  together  for  the 
salvation  of  the  community  in  which  they  live.  They  seem  to 
be  thinking  too  much  of  the  salvation  of  the  people  in  the 
province  from  which  they  came,  and  not  enough  of  the  salvation 
of  the  people  in  their  own  neighborhood.  The  Chinese  send 
large  sums  of  money  to  China,  to  be  used  in  evangelistic  work, 
while  they  give  comparatively  little  toward  the  evangelization  of 
their  people  right  here  in  their  midst.  The  Japanese  Christians, 
on  the  other  hand,  spend  all  their  money  here  and  send  nothing 
to  help  the  cause  of  evangelization  in  Japan.  The  Japanese 
churches  in  this  land  are  about  80%  self-supporting.  Would  it 
not  be  better  to  encourage  the  Chinese  to  send  less  money 
abroad  and  to  use  more  at  home  for  the  betterment  of  moral 
conditions  in  their  own  neighborhoods?  While  the  Japanese  on 

19 


this  Coast  have  contributed  but  little  in  the  way  of  money  to 
the  work  on  the  other  side  of  the  Pacific,  they  have  sent  back 
many  trained  workers.  The  Presbyterian  Church  of  San  Fran- 
cisco has  furnished  twenty-five  of  these,  the  Congregational 
Church  about  twenty,  the  Episcopal  Church  ten,  and  other 
churches  have  done  equally  well.  Christian  leadership  seems 
more  important  than  money. 

The  Chinese  missions  in  San  Francisco  are  much  better 
equipped  for  service  than  are  those  for  the  Japanese,  and  we 
can  hardly  say  that  there  are  too  many  denominations  at  work 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  Chinese  of  San  Francisco,  so  long 
as  the  desired  results  have  not  been  attained.  We  should  ever 
welcome  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  are  the  latest  to  enter  the 
field,  if  they  can  do  that  which  we  have  been  unable  to  accom- 
plish. All  the  missions  for  the  Orientals  have  come  about  in  a 
natural  way.  Those  for  the  Japanese  all  over  the  country  have 
sprung  up,  much  as  plants  do,  from  seeds  scattered  by  the 
parent  plant.  Little  companies  of  believers  have  come  together  in 
some  instances  to  establish  union  churches,  but  usually  asking 
aid  from  some  denomination,  and  so  growing  into  denomina- 
tional churches.  The  Chinese  missions  usually  grow  out  of  some 
night  school  started  by  some  kind-hearted  Christian,  who  realized 
that  there  is  here  a  great  opportunity  for  world  evangelization 
by  giving  the  gospel  to  the  Orientals  God  has  brought  to 
our  door. 

Conclusions:  For  the  Japanese,  still  greater  co-operation  on 
the  part  of  all  denominations  should  be  encouraged.  The 
League  of  Churches  of  Northern  California,  organized  to  take 
the  place  of  the  defunct  "Dendo  Dan"  should  be  subsidized 
by  the  various  denominational  boards,  in  order  that  there  may 
be  a  paid  secretary  and  evangelist,  to  reach  the  scattered  Japa- 
nese, otherwise  the  organization  will  be  useless.  A  similar 
organization  should  be  formed  in  order  that  the  scattered  groups 
of  Chinese  may  be  reached.  It  does  not  seem  wise  to  make 
Methodists,  Baptists,  or  Presbyterians  out  of  the  few  Chinese  lost 
sheep,  and  the  only  rational  method  is  to  seek  to  Christianize 
them  through  a  co-operative  interdenominational  organization. 
It  might  be  well  to  request  the  Board  of  Education  of  San 
Francisco  to  establish  efficient  kindergartens,  both  in  the  Chinese 
and  Japanese  quarters,  for  in  this  way  alone  can  we  hope  to 
counteract  the  Roman  Catholic  schools.  As  there  are  no  new 
Chinese  supposed  to  be  entering  this  country  and  as  all  children 
born  in  this  country  should  be  encouraged  to  attend  the  Ameri- 
can public  schools,  it  might  be  well  for  all  denominations  to 
intrust  the  whole  business  of  secular  education  to  the  American 
Government  and  bend  all  their  energies  toward  soul-winning  and 
the  building  of  Christian  character. 


20 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  IN  THE  CHINESE  COM- 
MUNITY OF  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CALIF. 

REV.  CHARLES  R.  SHEPHERD, 

General  Superintendent  Chinese  Work,  American  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society. 

A  Report  concerning  the  educational  work  being  carried  on  by 

the  Protestant  Denominations  in  the  Chinese  Community 

of  San  Francisco,  California. 

As  the  superscription  indicates  this  report  deals  with  San 
Francisco  only.  It  seemed  to  the  writer  that,  in  the  brief  time 
and  space  at  his  disposal,  it  would  not  be  wise  to  attempt  to 
discuss  the  educational  work  being  carried  on  among  the  Chinese 
on  the  entire  Pacific  Coast.  San  Francisco  is  the  strategic  point. 
It  is  here  that  we  have  the  largest  Chinese  community.  It  is 
here  that  the  largest  number  of  Christian  organizations  are  at 
work ;  and  here  that  each  one  of  them  is  spending  the  most 
money.  If  we  ever  work  out  a  solution  for  San  Francisco,  the 
plan  arrived  at  can  be  applied  at  all  other  points  to  the  extent  to 
which  similar  conditions  exist. 

Furthermore  this  report  is  to  be  purely  a  cold  statement  of 
facts.  Because  of  the  limited  time,  there  cannot  be  given  any 
history  of  the  work,  any  story  of  the  faithful,  untiring  self- 
sacrificing  efforts  of  the  many  earnest  Christian  men  and  women 
who  have  labored  and  still  do  labor  here;  nor  of  the  results 
that  have  been  accomplished;  though  all  these  things  would 
make  the  most  fascinating  and  inspiring  story,  and  do  furnish 
us  cause  for  constant  and  profound  gratitude  to  God. 

In  one  word  recognizing  these  things,  assuming  that  they  are 
known  to  all  of  us  who  are  present,  and  acknowledging  that 
in  them  we  have  undeniable  evidence  of  the  Father's  blessing 
upon  all  the  efforts  that  have  been  and  are  being  put  forth, 
imperfect  though  they  may  be,  this  report  will  proceed  to  set 
forth,  in  as  clear  statements  as  possible,  a  description  of  the 
actual  conditions  as  they  exist  today. 

There  are  three  phases  of  our  Educational  Work  among 
the  Chinese,  namely  Day  Schools,  Night  Schools  and  Chinese 
Language  Schools.  They  will  be  discussed  in  this  order. 

/.     Day  Schools. 

There  are  in  the  Chinese  Community  of  San  Francisco  five 
Protestant  Denominational  Day  Schools. 

We  shall  speak  of  these  as  Schools  A,  B,  C,  D,  and  E;  with- 
out any  reference  to  the  denomination  controlling  them. 

School  A. 

In  school  A  we  find  about  one  hundred  children  ranging  in 
age  from  three  to  fifteen  years. 

About  fifty  of  these  are  in  one  room,  20  by  25.  In  one  end 
of  the  room  are  seventeen  kindergartners.  At  the  other  end 
of  the  room  is  a  table  at  which  are  seated  five  little  folks 

21 


doing  Second  Grade  work.  In  the  remaining,  say  about  three- 
fifths  of  the  room  are  kindergarten  tables  and  chairs  at  which 
are  seated  thirty-two  children  constituting  what  is  known  as  a 
Primer  Class.  Every  available  foot  of  space  is  occupied.  Chairs 
and  tables  have  to  be  stacked  up  twice  a  day  for  the  kinder- 
garten play.  There  is  only  one  teacher  in  this  room,  a  Chinese 
woman  over  fifty  years  of  age  who  has  had  some  kindergarten 
training. 

The  remainder  of  the  children  in  this  school,  about  fifty  in 
number,  are  in  another  room  20  by  25.  In  this  room  there  is 
one  teacher  attempting  to  carry  on  work  of  the  first  five  grades, 
which  means  that  she  has  from  twelve  to  fifteen  classes  a  day. 
The  grading  in  this  room  is  as  follows:  1st  grade  17,  2nd  grade 
7,  3rd  grade  8,  5th  grade  4. 

School  B. 

In  school  B  there  are  about  140  pupils  ranging  in  age  from 
three  to  twenty-three. 

Forty  of  these  are  in  the  kindergarten  which  meets  in  a  room 
which  is  cheerful,  well  lighted  and  well  ventilated,  but  is  only 
24  by  24.  This  room  is  in  the  care  of  an  American  trained  kinder- 
gartner  who  has  a  young  untrained  Chinese  assistant.  There 
is  a  lack  of  modern  equipment. 

The  remainder  of  the  pupils  in  this  school  are  in  three  rooms 
which  we  shall  speak  of  as  x,  y,  z. 

In  room  "x"  there  are  thirty-five  children  with  one  teacher 
doing  work  in  the  first  and  second  grades.  This  teacher  has 
twenty  classes  a  day. 

In  room  "y"  there  are  eighteen  pupils  with  one  teacher  doing 
work  in  the  first  four  grades.  Those  doing  first  and  second 
grade  work  in  this  room  are  older  than  those  doing  the  same 
grade  of  work  in  room  "x",  but  are  backward  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  they  were  for  the  most  part  born  in  China.  The 
grades  in  this  room  run  as  follows  1st  10,  2nd  2,  3rd  2,  4th  5. 
This  teacher  has  fifteen  classes  a  day. 

Room  "z"  is  known  as  the  "Opportunity  Room."  There  are 
in  this  room  40  boys  and  young  men  from  13  to  30  years  of 
age.  They  are  practically  all  recent  arrivals,  speak  little  or  no 
English  and  have  only  a  very  limited  Chinese  education.  They 
are  doing  work  in  the  first  four  grades  and  are  in  this  room 
because  they  are  too  old  to  be  with  the  children  in  the  grades 
to  which  they  belong. 

School  C. 

School  C  has  about  one  hundred  children  ranging  in  age 
from  three  to  sixteen. 

The  kindergarten  has  65  children  meeting  in  a  cheerful,  well- 
lighted  and  well-ventilated  room.  This  room  is,  however,  like 
all  the  other  kindergarten  rooms,  too  small  for  the  number  of 
children  it  is  made  to  accommodate,  being  only  20  by  20.  The 
teacher  in  this  room  is  an  American  woman  past  forty  years 
of  age  who  is  only  self  trained. 

22 


The  remainder  of  the  children  in  this  school  are  in  one  well- 
appointed  room  as  follows,  1st  grade  10,  2nd  grade  11,  3rd 
grade  15. 

This  teacher  has  nine  classes  a  day.     Has  had  some  college 
work  but  no  teacher  training.     She  teaches   in  this   school  all 
day  and  again  for  two  hours  in  the  night  school. 
School  D. 

School  D  is  the  smallest  and  youngest  of  the  schools.  It  is 
also  the  most  poorly  manned,  though  plans  are  on  foot  for 
improvements. 

There  are  fifty-one  pupils  ranging  from  three  to  twelve  years 
of  age.  Thirty-five  of  these  are  in  the  kindergarten  which  meets 
in  a  room  which  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  a  kindergarten  room 
in  a  single  sense.  Ten  first  grade  and  six  second  grade  pupils 
are  in  another  very  small  room. 

The  teacher  in  this  school  is  a  graduate  of  a  missionary  train- 
ing school. 
School  E. 

School  E  is  called  a  kindergarten  but  has  twelve  pupils  doing 
first  grade  work,  and  thirty-eight  kindergartners.  This  school 
is  well  provided  with  space  but  only  fairly  equipped  otherwise 
and  very  poorly  manned,  having  only  one  untrained  American 
woman  over  forty  years  of  age  and  a  volunteer  helper. 

Thus  we  see  that  in  this  Chinese  Community  we  have  five 
schools  all  attempting  to  do  approximately  the  same  kind  of 
work,  but  doing  it  inefficiently  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  they 
are  all  operating  under  conditions  similar  to  those  existing  in 
small  country  schools. 

There  is  a  total  of  over  430  pupils  and  eleven  teachers.  The 
pupils  are  distributed  as  follows. 

*First    Grade    a  78  b  41 

Second  Grade    a  19  b  16 

Third   Grade    25 

Fourth  Grade    4 

Fifth  Grade   4 

Kindergarten   207 

Special    40 

Table  Showing  Distribution  of  Day-School  Pupils. 
Grade.  A          B  C         D          E     Total 

First   a 32        30          6          5          7          78 

First  b 17        10          4          5          5          41 

Second   a 5          5          6          3         ..  26 

Second   b 7  2          4          3         ..  16 

Third    8          2         15         ..          ..  25 

Fourth    4         4 

Fifth    4         4 

Kindergarten 17        40        65        35         50        207 

Grand   Total    434 

*  The    a    and    b    in   this    case    does    not    indicate    a    difference    in    grade    of    work 
but   of    age. 

23 


//.     Night  Schools. 

There  are  in  the  Chinese  community  nine  denominational 
night  schools  (exclusive  of  Seventh  Day  Adventists  and  Salva- 
tion Army). 

The  traditional  purpose  of  these  schools  is  the  evangelization 
of  the  young  men  of  the  community  by  the  indirect  method  of 
giving  them  instruction  in  English,  which  they  desire,  and  at 
the  same  time  seeking  to  impart  the  Christian  message  by 
means  of  the  short  religious  exercises  with  which  all  sessions 
close. 

The  work  which  is  being  done  in  these  nine  schools  at  present 
is  very  inefficient.  With  the  exception  of  the  two  schools 
which  are  using  the  class  method  in  part  or  in  whole,  the  old 
old  individual  method  is  still  in  vogue.  Each  boy  comes  to 
school  when  he  gets  ready,  takes  his  seat  anywhere  he  pleases 
in  the  room,  opens  his  book — also  when  he  gets  ready — and  sits 
there,  either  endeavoring  to  read  his  lesson  or  gazing  around 
until  his  turn  comes  to  read  with  the  teacher.  His  actual 
lesson,  if  such  it  can  be  called,  lasts  about  ten  or  fifteen  minutes. 
A  very  great  variety  of  text-books  are  in  use — the  pupil  again 
following  his  own  sweet  will  in  very  many  cases.  It  is  quite  a 
common  thing  to  find  big  husky  boys  and  young  men,  who  have 
been  working  hard  all  day,  conscientiously  struggling  to  master 
such  classics  as  the  Little  Red  Hen,  Titty  Mouse  and  Tatty 
Mouse,  and  Chicken  Little.  It  seems  to  the  writer  that  after 
spluttering  over  such  expressions  as  Goosey  Loosey,  Ducky 
Lucky,  Turkey  Lurkey  and  Foxey  Loxy  these  Chinese  young 
men  must  have  some  queer  ideas  of  the  English  language. 

These  schools  are  under  the  direction  of  American  women 
who  are  earnest  Christians  and  devoted  to  their  work.  Some  of 
them  know  a  little  about  teaching,  some  know  nothing  about  it. 
They  are  there  for  three  hours,  five  nights  a  week,  and  are  paid 
anywhere  from  $15  to  $30  a  month.  In  most  of  the  schools 
there  is  a  Chinese  assistant  of  some  sort  who  can  interpret  when 
necessary  and  help  in  the  religious  exercises. 

Referring  to  these  schools  by  number  instead  of  name,  the 
enrollment  and  attendance  is  as  follows : 

No.  1  35       average  attendance      23 

No.  2  31  "  "  22 

No.  3  34  "  "  25 

No.  4  40  "  "  25 

No.  5  38  "  "  20 

No.  6  35  "  "  22 

No.  7  14  "•  "  8 

No.  8  49  "  "  25 

No.  9  25  "  "  15 

Total  301  "  "  185 

24 


These  night  schools  are  considered  by  each  one  of  the  churches 
with  which  they  are  connected  to  be  one  of  the  most  fruitful 
sources  of  additions. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  with  two  exceptions  these  schools  do 
not  employ  the  class  method  it  is  'difficult  to  make  any  exact 
statement  indicating  the  manner  in  which  these  three  hundred 
pupils  should  be  classified  by  grades,  but  investigation  reveals 
the  fact  that  although  they  are  not  actually  in  classes  they  can 
be  classified  roughly  as  follows. 

Schools.  123456789  Total 

Grade   A 17      9     18     18     16     15      6    20     10  129 

Grade    B 6      4     10     10     15     15      4     10      5  79 

Grade    C 5     18      3      5      5      3      2      5       5  51 

Grade   D 7..       3       5      2      2      2       5       5  31 

Grade   E..  2                             9  11 


Total    35     31     34    40    38    35     14    49    23        301 

///.     Chinese  Schools. 

There  are  in  this  same  community  six  denominational  Chinese 
schools.  These  schools  in  which  children  are  taught  to  read 
and  write  Chinese  and  to  make  some  study  of  Chinese  literature, 
history  and  traditions. 

Time  will  not  be  taken  in  this  report  to  set  forth  arguments 
in  justification  of  these  schools,  except  to  say  that  the  writer  is 
of  the  opinion  that  under  existing  conditions  they  are  thoroughly 
justifiable,  and  could  furnish  excellent  reasons  for  holding  such 
an  opinion,  if  called  upon  to  do  so. 

The  attendance  and  grading  in  these  schools  is  about  as 
follows : 

Baptist    38  pupils  in  5  grades 

Congregational   34        "        "8 

Cumberland   (Presbyterian).     47        "        "    5 

Episcopal   60       "       "8 

Methodist   56       "        "6 

Presbyterian    49  "5 

• 

These  schools  are  all  about  on  a  par  with  the  exception  of  one 
which  is  quite  superior  to  the  rest. 

Each  school  has  but  one  teacher  who  is,  of  course,  a  Chinese. 
They  meet  from  three  o'clock  to  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

Thus  we  see  that  in  this  branch  of  the  work  we  have  six 
rooms  each  with  one  teacher  endeavoring  to  instruct  from 
thirty  to  sixty  pupils  covering  work  in  from  five  to  six  grades, 
or  classes. 

A  table  setting  forth  this  condition  would  be  about  as  shown 
herewith : 

25 


School.          Grades. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Total 

Baptist    

g 

7 

10 

s 

8 

38 

Congregational    .... 
Cumberland  (Presb.) 
Episcopal   

8 
10 
1? 

12 
13 
1S 

4 
6 
10 

4 
6 
6 

3 
7 

7 

1 

5 
S 

1 
*3 

1 
2 

34 
47 
60 

Methodist    

18 

4 

is 

6 

7 

56 

Presbyterian    

1S 

10 

8 

s 

? 

40 

Total 275 

To  give  a  closing  summary,  there  are  in  this  Chinese  com- 
munity, within  a  territory  three  blocks  by  two  blocks,  twenty 
schools  or  parts  of  schools,  conducted  at  different  times  of  the 
day  in  9  buildings  employing  33  teachers,  reaching  about  seven 
hundred  different  pupils,  administered  by  nine  Christian  de- 
nominational organizations  and  maintained  at  a  cost  of  about 
$13,000  a  year.  None  of  these  schools  are  anything  like  as 
efficient  as  they  ought  to  be,  while  most  of  them  are  deplorably 
inefficient.  To  any  who  study  the  facts  set  forth  in  this 
report,  or  who  visit  our  schools  for  the  purpose  of  investiga- 
tion it  must  be  perfectly  patent  that  radical  changes  ought  to 
be  made,  and  that  without  delay. 

A  SUGGESTION* 

It  would  seem  to  the  writer  that,  in  the  light  of  the  facts  set 
forth  in  the  foregoing  report,  there  are  three  possible  courses 
open  to  the  Protestant  denominations  now  operating  in  the 
Chinese  community  of  San  Francisco. 

First:  Give  up  educational  work  altogether,  leaving  the  state 
to  care  for  such  work. 

Second:  Let  each  denomination  increase  the  number  of  and 
raise  the  standard  of  its  teachers,  and  improve  its  equipment 
sufficiently  to  provide  for  itself  a  thoroughly  modern  and  up-to- 
date  school. 

Third:  Let  the  denominations  unite  in  creating  a  thoroughly 
modern  and  up-to-date  system  of  education  that  will  insure 
greater  efficiency,  avoid  useless  duplication,  cover  a  larger  and 
more  useful  field  of  instruction,  serve  a  larger  constituency  and 
touch  more  vitally  the  life  of  the  community. 

The  first  of  these  would  seem  to  need  no  discussion.  To 
give  up  our  educational  work  now  would  mean  the  turning  of 
our  more  than  seven  hundred  children  and  young  men  over  to 
the  Roman  Catholics,  since  the  public  school  is  full  to  over- 
flowing. 

The  second  course  is  one  that  must  commend  itself  to  all  who 


*  This    suggestion    furnishes    a    way    whereby    the    Protestant    Denominations    now 

conducting    Educational   Work    in    the    Chinese    Community  of    San    Francisco,    Calif., 

might    re-organize    their    work    in    such    a    manner    as    to  secure    greater    efficiency, 

avoid   useless   duplication,  cover  a   larger   and   more   useful  field    of   instruction,    serve 

a    larger    constituency    and    touch    more    vitally    the    life  of     the    community,    thus 

rendering    greater    service    to    the    Kingdom    of    God,    the  Chinese    and    the    United 
States  of   America. 

26 


look  upon  the  schools  as  recruiting  stations  for  the  churches, 
who  seek  through  their  schools  to  make  Baptists,  Methodists, 
Presbyterians,  etc.,  who  can  behold  without  blushing  the  prodigal 
waste  involved  in  duplication  and  are  willing  to  pay  the  price 
in  dollars  and  cents. 

To  all  who  regard  our  schools  as  agencies  for  service  to  the 
Chinese  community,  as  a  means  of  uplifting  the  Chinese  popul- 
lation  and  of  interpreting  to  them  and  leading  them  to  embrace 
the  fundamental  principles  of  Christianity  without  necessarily 
placing  upon  them  the  denominational  stamp,  who  feel  that 
having  undertaken  to  educate  the  Chinese  we  owe  it  to  them 
to  give  them  the  very  best  possible,  who  long  to  see  our  schools 
conducted  with  greater  efficiency,  who  abhor  wasteful  duplica- 
tion ;  and,  last  but  not  least,  who  are  familiar  with  the  ideas 
and  desires  of  the  Chinese  themselves  in  these  matters,  the  third 
course  must  commend  itself,  that  is  the  united  effort  of  the 
various  denominations  in  creating  and  maintaining  a  thoroughly 
modern  and  up:to-date  system  of  education. 

Such  a  course  would  involve  an  undertaking  that  would  be 
difficult  but  by  no  means  impossible  or  impractical.  It  would 
encounter  some  obstacles  but  not  such  as  would  be  insurmounta- 
ble. It  would  necessitate  the  utmost  charity,  broadmindedness 
and  brotherly  love  on  the  part  of  the  representatives  of  the 
various  denominations  involved,  but  would  not  necessitate  any 
surrender  of  principle,  sacrifice  of  conviction  or  compromise 
in  matters  of  vital  importance. 

The  writer  does  not  pretend  to  have  thought  out  any  patent 
scheme  or  complete  and  final  plan  whereby  such  a  course  might 
be  followed  successfully,  but  having  made  a  conscientious  effort 
to  think  out  some  plan  whereby  something  of  the  sort  might 
be  accomplished,  he  begs  permission  to  submit  a  statement 
setting  forth  in  rough  general  outline  a  plan  which  seems  to 
him  to  contain  the  general  principles  necessary  for  the  successful 
carrying  out  of  a  Union  System  of  Education. 

First:  The  National  Boards  of  the  Protestant  denominations 
which  are  engaged  in  educational  work  of  any  sort  in  this 
Chinese  community  should  agree  to  the  bringing  together  of  all 
their  schools  into  a  Union  Organization  to  be  known  by  some 
such  name  as  The  Consolidated  Christian  Schools  for  Chinese 
of  San  Francisco,  California. 

Second:  The  Administration  of  this  system  should  be  carried 
on  by  a  Board  of  Managers  composed  of  representatives  of  all 
denominations  involved.  To  this  Board  of  Managers  would  be 
entrusted  the  actual  administration  of  the  work  on  the  field,  but 
in  all  matters  of  policy  the  final  authority  would  remain  with  the 
National  Boards. 

There  should  of  course  be  drawn  up  a  constitution  regulating 
the  activities  of  this  Board  of  Managers. 

This  system  should  not  involve  a  division  of  labor  among  the 
various  denominations  assigning  to  each  one  a  definite  branch  of 
the  work,  as  such  a  system  would  have  certain  obviously  objec- 

27 


tionable  features.  It  would,  rather,  make  every  branch  of  the 
work  thoroughly  representative.  Each  denomination  would  be 
asked  to  provide  a  certain  number  of  teachers  (or  equivalent 
in  money),  and  certain  amount  of  money  for  running  expenses. 
Third:  The  Organization  should  include  most  if  not  all  of 
the  following  departments. 

/.  Kindergarten  Department.  It  might  be  found  advisable 
to  conduct  the  work  of  this  department  in  two  buildings  at  dif- 
ferent points  in  the  community  for  the  convenience  of  the 
little  folks. 

II.  Primary  Department.  Into  this  department  would  be 
brought  together  all  the  1st  and  2nd  grade  pupils  from  all  the 
schools.  This  would  include  about  160  children.  These  could 
be  housed  in  one  of  the  larger  buildings,  divided  into  four 
classes,  giving  each  teacher  about  forty  children  all  doing  the 
same  grade  of  work;  or  there  could  be  five  classes  with  fewer 
children  in  each  class.  In  either  event  it  would  be  a  great  im- 
provement on  the  present  situation  in  which  each  teacher  has 
from  thirty  to  fifty  children  doing  work  covering  from  two  to 
four  grades. 

///.  Intermediate  Department.  Into  this  department  would 
be  brought  all  the  children  doing  work  in  the  third,  fourth, 
fifth  and  perhaps  sixth  grades.  This  would  include  from  forty 
to  fifty  children.  They  could  be  housed  in  one  of  the  smaller 
buildings  and  cared  for  by  two  teachers. 

For  the  present  we  should  not  attempt  to  carry  the  children 
beyond  the  sixth  grade  unless  conditions  should  arise  which 
would  make  it  seem  better  to  go  on  through. 

Allowing  two  teachers  for  each  kindergarten  it  would  require 
about  the  same  number  of  teachers  as  we  have  at  present,  but  it 
would  give  us  an  efficient  system  instead  of  five  confused 
schools  as  we  have  at  present.  It  would  enable  each  teacher  to 
do  her  best  work  which  is  not  possible  under  the  existing  con- 
ditions. 

IV.  Department  of  English  (Night  School).    This  would  be 
handled  in  very  much  the  same  way  as  the  day  school  depart- 
ment, bringing  together  the  three  hundred  pupils  into  two  or 
perhaps  three  adjacent  buildings,  properly  grading  them,  abolish- 
ing the  individual  method  of  instruction  and  organizing  about 
ten  classes.     This  would  require  only  ten  teachers   instead   of 
fifteen  or  sixteen  as  we  have  at  present,  thus  making  it  possible 
to  engage  capable  teachers. 

V.  Elementary  Business  School.    Giving  instruction  in  Arith- 
metic,  Salesmanship,  Typewriting,  and  any  other  subjects  cal- 
culated to  help  young  men  who  work  during  the  day  to  prepare 
themselves  for  something  better  than  waiting  table  and  wash- 
ing dishes. 

VI.  Department  of  Citizenship  (or  some  such  name).  Ameri- 
can History,  American  Geography,  Civics,  Social  life  and  cus- 

28 


toms,  embracing  Sex  Relations    (very  important),   Home   Life, 
Community   Life,   Etiquette. 

VII.  School  of  Health.     Hygeine,  First  Aid,  Home  Nursing, 
Mothercraft,  Athletics. 

VIII.  Department  of  Religion  and  Social  Service  (For  pas- 
tors,   Sunday   School   teachers   and    other   workers}.      Teacher 
training,   Comparative  study  of  Christianity  and  the   Religions 
of  China,  History,  Literature,  Teachings,  Studies  in  the  life  of 
Christ,  Applied  Christianity    (Social   Service),   Courses   of  lec- 
tures and  addresses  in  the  Chinese  language  by  returned  mis- 
sionaries.   Lectures  and  addresses  by  men  of  national  reputation, 
through  an  interpreter. 

IX.  Elementary  Chinese  School.    In  which  would  be  brought 
together   all    the    children    from    the   various    Chinese    schools, 
properly  graded   and  housed  as   in  the  case  of   the   Day   and 
Night  Schools. 

In  Conclusion  the  writer  would  repeat  that  he  is  very  con- 
scious of  the  fact  that  this  suggested  plan  is  incomplete  and 
far  from  perfect  but  it  is  submitted  with  the  conviction  that  it 
leads  in  the  right  direction  and  contains  at  least  some  principles 
which  might  form  a  working  basis,  for  a  system  of  education 
which  would  help  the  Christian  forces  engaged  in  this  work  to 
secure  greater  efficiency,  avoid  useless  duplication,  cover  a 
larger  and  more  useful  field  of  instruction  and  touch  more 
vitally  the  life  of  the  community,  thus  rendering  greater  service 
to  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  Chinese  and  the  United  States  of 
America. 

SOCIAL  AND  PHILANTHROPIC  WORK  AMONG 
ORIENTALS. 

SARAH  ELLIS. 

Immigration  and  Foreign  Community  Sec.  Pacific  Coast  Field 
Committee,  Y.  W.  C.  A. 

Social  Service  as  defined  by  the  Social  Service  Commission 
of  the  Federation  of  the  Women's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
in  a  survey  of  work  in  China  made  by  Miss  Earnestine  Freed- 
.man  is  "Associated  effort  of  those  wishing  to  bring  about 
justice  and  happiness  for  their  fellow-members  of  society,  and 
to  make  possible  the  individual's  fullest  development  by  estab- 
lishing a  Christian  Social  Order." 

As  we  study  the  Oriental  communities  of  our  cities  we  find 
certain  conditions  common  to  all.  The  Japanese  are  forced  to 
live  in  a  stated  section  a  few  blocks  square.  The  Chinese  are 
virtually  limited  to  their  particular  few  city  blocks.  The 
Koreans  and  Hindus  are  no  exception.  Thus  we  have  the 
popularly  so  called  China  Towns  and  little  Tokyos  in  the 
ready  to  tumble  down  sections  of  our  cities.  This  segregation 
was  perhaps  at  first  self-imposed  for  social  reasons  or  con- 

29 


venience  in  securing  food  to  which  they  are  accustomed.  These 
boundaries  are  very  well  defined  in  the  minds  of  landlords  and 
real  estate  agents  and  a  new  building  in  one  of  these  neighbor- 
hoods would  create  no  little  excitement.  This  segregation  is 
one  of  the  greatest  hindrances  to  assimilation  we  could  possibly 
impose  upon  any  foreign  groups.  Edward  Steiner  was  not  so 
far  afield  when  he  said,  "The  American  people  as  a  whole 
clamor  with  a  kind  of  savage  hunger  for  the  assimilation  of 
the  immigrant;  but  the  question  into  what  he  is  to  be  assimi- 
lated has  not  agitated  them  to  any  marked  degree." 

Housing. 

On  August  13,  1920,  a  group  of  workers,  representing  the 
different  Protestant  denominations,  the  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association  and  Salvation  Army,  having  work  among 
Chinese  in  San  Francisco,  was  called  to  the  Chinese  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
for  conference  on  needs  and  conditions  in  the  Chinese  com- 
munity. All  agreed  that  the  housing  problem  was  one  of  the 
most  acute.  One  Chinese  worker  stated  that  it  was  not  un- 
common for  a  whole  family  to  have  to  live  in  one  room  which 
must  serve  as  living-room,  dining-room,  bed-room,  kitchen  and 
laundry  and  that  even  for  this  exorbitant  rent  is  charged.  The 
Salvation  Army  representative  exposed  many  of  the  unsanitary 
conditions  in  houses  rented  to  Chinese  families,  dark  and  poorly 
ventilated  rooms,  basement  or  alley  rooms  devoid  of  ordinary 
decency,  where  no  one  should  live  housing  whole  families  and 
possibly  a  lodger  or  two.  It  is  little  wonder  that  tuberculosis 
and  other  diseases  are  prevalent  or  that  moral  standards  are  not 
all  they  should  be.  Why  do  the  Chinese  put  up  with  these 
conditions,  do  you  ask?  I  once  heard  a  Chinese  pastor  say, 
"We  may  appear  to  the  American  people  as  though  we  were 
contented  with  the  bad  housing  and  that  we  did  not  care  to  live 
elsewhere  or  have  things  different.  We  have  appealed  to  the 
landlords  for  repairs  and  more  sanitary  provision  for  our  homes 
but  they  only  laugh  and  raise  the  rent.  We  enjoy  beauty.  We 
would  be  glad  to  live  in  the  better  parts  of  the  city  but  we  are 
barred.  We  are  condemned  to  live  as  we  do." 

The  superintendent  of  one  of  the  leading  denominations  work- 
ing among  the  Chinese  people  said,  "If  one-half  the  people  in 
Chinatown  desired  to  get  into  better  houses  they  couldn't  do 
it  for  houses  could  not  be  found,"  where  they  would  be  allowed 
to  rent.  We  must  not  follow  the  error  so  often  made  by 
newspaper  reporters  and  tourists  who  go  through  the  slums  of 
the  Chinese  quarters  and  have  pointed  out  to  them  and  explained 
in  insinuating  detail  the  places  of  vice,  the  gambling  den  and 
the  opium  parlors  and  interpret  the  whole  Chinese  race  from 
this  superficial  knowledge;  lawyers  and  city  police  in  close 
contact  with  crime  give  even  a  worse  view  of  Chinese  character. 
This  distorted  and  vicious  image  thus  presented  is  not  at  all  the 
Chinese  man  whom  the  banks  and  mercantile  houses,  express 
companies,  insurance  agents  and  business  men  know,  nor  the 

30 


one  familiar  to  church  workers  and  teachers ;  but  he  was  con- 
venient for  the  politician,  agreeable  for  public  agitation  and 
therefore  he  has  become  the  traditional  bogie  for  public  use. 
It  is  essential  to  our  estimate  of  the  true  value  of  the  Chinese 
in  America  to  know  the  Chinese  of  good  reputation  as  he  has 
been  living  here  for  the  past  fifty  years  who  has  come  and  gone 
without  being  known  or  appreciated.  This  same  average,  re- 
spectable, dignified,  industrious,  lawabiding  and  reticent  one  has 
ever  been  subjected  to  the  same  indignities  of  landlords.  Hotels 
and  apartment  houses  have  been  cut  up  into  small  and  still 
smaller  rooms  for  the  profit  of  the  landlords.  Much  of  the 
property  in  our  cities  rented  to  foreigners  is  let  with  the  stipu- 
lation that  the  tenant  must  make  all  repairs.  This  is  specially 
true  of  the  houses  just  reaching  the  tumble  down  stage.  It 
would  not  be  amiss  if  we  knew  the  laws  of  our  cities  and  state 
as  they  effect  landlords  and  tenants,  and  see  whether  they  are 
such  as  to  bring  about  right  housing  if  enforced.  If  they  are 
not  adequate  could  we  do  anything  about  it  ?  Are  we  co-operat- 
ing with  agencies  who  should  be  keen  and  up  to  date  on  this 
question,  such  as  the  State  Commission  of  Immigration  and 
Housing  and  the  State  Board  of  Health?  Are  we  doing  what 
we  should  in  educational  propaganda  to  bring  about  a  more 
sanitary  condition  in  our  Oriental  communities?  Do  the  people 
perish  while  we  sit  snugly  and  smile  complacently  at  our 
superior  American  standards  of  living?  What  concerted  plan 
or  co-operative  effort  has  been  made  to  see  that  the  sight- 
seeing parties  taken  nightly  through  the  foreign  sections  of  San 
Francisco  get  an  idea  of  the  honest  struggle  for  ideals  of  real 
human  beings  and  not  simply  a  memory  of  the  glamor  of  the 
stores  on  Grant  Avenue  with  their  strange  and  extravagant 
wares,  or  the  places  of  bad  reputation  of  which  no  self-respect- 
ing inhabitant  of  that  community  is  proud? 

What  has  been  said  of  the  segregation  and  housing  of  the 
Chinese  can  be  said  of  the  Japanese  and  Koreans.  The  same 
exploitation  by  landlords,  the  same  difficulty  in  renting  houses 
in  the  better  communities  by  those  whose  ideals,  standards  of 
living  and  position  would  make  them  unoffending  members  of 
any  community.  We  find  the  same  congestion  and  overcrowd- 
ing in  hotels  and  rooming  houses.  The  same  lack  of  ventilation 
and  sunlight.  The  same  unwholesome  basement  sleeping  rooms. 
The  same  cheap  plumbing  systems.  In  the  follow  up  calling 
from  my  work  on  Angel  Island  I  have  often  wondered  that  the 
Oriental  women  could  adapt  themselves  to  American  house- 
keeping as  well  as  they  do.  Coming  as  they  do  from  homes 
where  the  chopsticks  are  used  instead  of  tfce  array  of  silver  to 
be  cared  for  and  so  necessary  to  our  American  table.  Homes 
in  which  heavy  furniture  is  unknown,  where  individual  trays 
placed  on  the  matted  floors  serve  as  tables  and  chairs.  The 
pictures,  books,  scrolls  and  heirlooms  arranged  in  a  storeroom, 
to  be  brought  out  on  occasions  or  to  be  shown  to  guests,  in 
which  case  the  daily  handling  and  dusting  is  not  necessary  as  in 

31 


our  houses  so  well  supplied  with  bookshelves,  hanging  pictures, 
furniture  and  rugs.  The  best  houses  in  Japan  are  unpainted, 
therefore  how  should  a  Japanese  housewife  know  the  care  of 
the  painted  woodwork,  or  why  should  she  be  sensitive  if  the 
paint  on  the  outside  grows  shabby.  Many  of  these  housekeepers 
in  this  new  environment  have  never  seen  the  inside  of  an 
American  home  and  I  have  often  wondered  that  they  keep 
house  as  well  as  they  do. 

It  is  not  so  much  dirt  as  disorder,  not  so  much  filth  as  chaos, 
not  so  much  the  lack  of  furnishings  as  the  lack  of  knowing  how 
to  arrange  furniture  effectively.  It  need  not  be  surprising  if 
coming  from  a  country  of  open  drains  and  sewers  she  gets  all 
tangled  up  in  our  complicated  sewerage  system.  The  housing 
conditions  among  the  Hindus  present  quite  another  aspect. 
Here  we  have  single  men  to  consider  and  few  families.  It  is 
not  a  city  problem  so  much  as  a  rural  one.  For  fuller  state- 
ments regarding  standards  of  living  and  housing  of  Chinese,  I 
would  refer  you  to  Mary  Roberts  Coolidge — Chinese  Immigra- 
tion; Dr.  Gulick — Japan  and  America  and  Studies  in  Sociology 
of  June,  1920,  edited  by  Professor  Bogardus,  University  of 
Southern  California,  also  "California  and  the  Orientals/'  by 
the  State  Board  of  Control,  1920.  It  is  too  often  found  that 
municipal  responsibilities  are  sadly  neglected  in  the  Chinese  and 
Japanese  section  of  the  city,  perchance  because  the  Oriental 
does  not  file  complaints  as  readily  as  others.  Vacant  lots  are 
allowed  to  be  used  as  dump  grounds  for  all  kinds  of  refuse; 
garbage  collectors  are  careless  and  irregular  and  street  sweepers 
are  neglected. 

The  segregation  of  the  Chinese  school  children  is  very  much 
retarding  the  Americanization  of  the  Chinese  and  that  this 
school  is  not  kept  up  to  the  standard  in  equipment  and  teach- 
ing staff  is  generally  known. 

The  Oriental  children  have  almost  no  space  for  outdoor 
recreation  or  play.  There  are  no  equipped  playgrounds  and  in 
the  public  parks  they  are  not  welcome. 

Industrial  Conditions. 

I  shall  not  speak  of  the  industrial  pursuits  where  they  do  not 
touch  the  home  or  the  employing  of  women  or  children.  If 
we  have  imagined  that  only  in  New  York  is  there  a  "sweat 
shop"  system  we  have  but  to  study  into  conditions  in  China- 
town to  find  that  we  have  "sweat  shops"  nearer  home.  In  an 
industrial  survey  made  for  the  Pacific  Coast  Field  Committee 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  by  Miss  Marjory  White,  Special  Industrial 
Investigator,  National  War  Work  Council  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
we  have  the  following:  "The  problem  includes  in  its  circles 
consumers,  operators  of  retail  mercantile  stores,  white  and 
Chinese  middlemen  and  Chinese  women  and  children.  Several 
years  ago,  some  of  the  smaller  retail  stores  saw  whereby  they 
could  procure  the  making  and  finishing  of  overalls,  the  plainer 
aprons,  flannel  shirts  and  nightgowns,  pongee  waists  and  cheaper 

32 


grade  of  wash  waists,  and  a  few  other  articles,  at  a  much 
cheaper  cost  than  in  their  own  stores  or  manufacturing  quarters. 
This  plan  was  to  be  worked  out  in  Chinatown  by  the  use  of 
Chinese  women  and  child  labor.  Accordingly  two  middlemen, 
for  the  retail  stores  were  employed  who  arranged  orders,  the 
place  of  making  or  finishing  garments,  the  local  shipments,  hours 
of  work,  prices  to  be  paid,  etc.  From  a  few  retail  stores,  the 
system  has  grown  to  individual  dealers,  who  are  laying  plans 
for  one-room  shops  throughout  Chinatown  where  the  women 
can  work  in  larger  groups  away  from  their  homes.  Today  one 
finds  Chinese  women  working  in  these  one-room  shops,  which 
are  utterly  devoid  of  any  modern  equipment  (save  the  machin- 
ery), or  in  their  own  homes  into  which  the  machinery  has  been 
installed  because  they  could  not  be  persuaded  to  go  away  from 
the  home  for  work.  No  thought  of  ventilation,  proper  lighting, 
sanitation  or  personal  comfort  has  been  considered.  Some  of 
these  shops  and  underground  rooms  are  most  unhealthy  places 
in  which  to  work.  In  such  surroundings  the  Chinese  women 
sew  on  braids,  sew  the  cut  out  shapes  into  garments,  finish 
sewed  garments  or  sew  on  buttons.  The  wages  are  paid  on  a 
piece-work  basis,  because  in  this  way  production  is  cheaper  to 
the  retail  merchant  and  perhaps  the  greater  reason  that  the 
Chinese  woman,  because  of  home  duties  and  peculiar  habits  of 
living,  cannot  be  held  regularly  to  regular  industrial  standards 
of  hours. 

This  system  has  also  other  evils  besides  sweat  shop  wages 
and  unsanitary  conditions  in  places  of  employment.  When 
work  is  taken  into  the  home,  children  are  often  forced  to  add 
to  the  family  income  by  working  long  hours  and  because  a 
man  cannot  be  touched  by  any  existing  law  if  in  his  own 
residence  he  chooses  to  break  child  labor  laws.  There  can  be 
little  done  to  prevent  such  conditions  except  by  constructive 
educational  agitation  along  this  line  and  securing  better  laws. 

Miss  White  gave  four  cases  to  substantiate  what  she  had  said 
of  industrial  conditions,  two  of  these  I  shall  quote : 

1.  Fourteen    machines    making    aprons,    flannel    nightgowns 
and  children's  dresses.     Wages  $1.25  for  sewing  seams  in  one 
dozen  nightgowns,  output,  two  dozen  per  day.     One  girl  twelve 
years  old,  sat  in  chair  sewing  on  buttons,  some  of  two  holes 
and  some  of  four  holes.     She  worked  three  hours  from  three 
to  six  o'clock  sewing  on  one  hundred  buttons   earning  twenty 
cents. 

2.  Sixteen  machines   installed  in  a  basement  home,   under- 
ground.    Overalls  were  being  made  under  artificial  light  at  all 
times.     Mother  works  as  well  as   two  daughters   after  school 
hours.     Friends   of  the   family    (the   father   being  middleman) 
work  in  this   place.      Place   was   damp,   dark,   miserable.      The 
family  lives  back  of  the  work  shop  in  rooms  that  have  to  be 
artificially  lighted  throughout  the  day. 

One  of  the  most  offensive  home  industries  among  Chinese  is 
that  of  shrimp  packing.  Here  women  and  children  sit  for 

33 


long  hours  shelling  shrimps  which  are  distributed  in  huge 
baskets  in  the  homes  where  the  work  is  to  be  done  and  steps 
and  stairway  are  strewn  with  what  spilled  over.  Very  small 
wages  are  paid  and  to  one  unaccustomed  to  the  odor  of  shrimps, 
the  contamination  of  the  home  is  beyond  words  to  express. 
But  picking  is  also  a  common  home  industry  in  Chinese  homes, 
in  which  the  women  and  even  small  children  are  employed. 
Just  at  this  season,  children  are  put  in  the  care  of  someone 
else  or  allowed  to  play  on  the  street  while  the  Chinese  mother 
goes  to  pick  out  nut  kernels.  Her  home  duties  are  neglected 
and  her  position  as  mother  ignored  for  the  sake  of  a  paltry 
bit  of  silver. 

The  industries  effecting  the  Japanese  home  are  few.  There 
is  an  increase  in  the  number  of  homes  where  piece  sewing 
is  done  or  garments  are  embroidered  or  finished.  Many  Japanese 
women  are  working  in  American  families  for  part  or  all  day, 
returning  home  at  night.  In  some  places  Japanese  women  work 
in  canneries  or  at  fruit  picking.  The  chief  problem  here  is 
the  care  of  the  children  and  overtaxing  the  strength  of  the 
mother,  for  this  work  in  addition  to  her  home  duties  makes 
her  day  an  extremely  strenuous  one.  In  many  cases  the 
Japanese  home  consists  of  a  store  or  shop  in  the  front  and 
living  rooms  at  the  back.  It  is  often  the  wife  and  mother  who 
cares  for  the  store  and  home  while  the  husband  is  occupied 
with  business  away  from  home.  There  is  a  move  on  the  part 
of  some  of  the  leading  Japanese  to  do  away  with  the  dual 
function  of  the  home  as  it  is  a  custom  brought  from  Japan  and 
is  un-American. 

One  of  the  great  menaces  to  moral  standards  in  Oriental 
communities  is  gambling.  A  study  was  made  of  gambling 
houses  by  a  committee  appointed  from  the  Standing  Committee 
of  American  workers  among  Orientals  resulting  in  a  report 
given  at  its  meeting  of  May,  1920.  In  Locke,  Walnut  Grove, 
Courtland  and  Isleton,  gambling  houses  are  wide  open.  Sunday 
is  the  great  day  and  American  ranchmen  and  their  wives  are 
the  best  week-end  participants  in  these  Chinese  gambling  houses. 
San  Francisco  is  officially  closed  but  secretly  open  while  in 
Sacramento,  Oakland,  Stockton  and  Los  Angeles  gambling 
houses  are  officially  closed  but  openly  open.  In  Stockton  a 
new  building  is  being  erected  by  Chinese  and  the  boast  is  that 
it  is  police  proof.  A  great  many  Japanese  men  for  the  most 
part  those  without  family  responsibility  are  good  supporters  of 
the  Chinese  gambling  houses  and  as  participants  are  no  less 
offending  than  those  who  keep  places  for  such  participation.  The 
Japanese  Salvation  Army  is  carrying  on  an  active  campaign 
against  gambling. 

Senator  Grant  of  the  Law  Enforcement  League  says  that  one 
of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  the  way  of  closing  gambling  dens 
is  that  they  are  in  private  residences.  He  suggests  that  the 
only  way  to  cope  with  the  situation  is  to  get  a  Gambling  Abate- 
ment Act  passed  to  close  buildings  where  gambling  is  carried  on. 

34 


Of  the  Chinese  agencies  operating  in  Chinese  communities, 
one  of  the  most  effective  is  the  Chinese  Six  Companies.  This 
agency  is  back  of  everything  that  is  for  betterment  of  conditions 
among  Chinese  and  where  there  is  need  of  interpretation  be- 
tween American  and  Chinese  men  or  business  houses  this 
organization  is  ready  to  help  adjust  affairs.  They  are  a  bene- 
volent organization  exercising  extensive  advisory  but  not  co- 
ercive powers. 

In  the  Japanese  communities  the  Japanese  Association  of 
America  with  its  local  branches  is  the  effective  organization  of 
that  nationality.  The  object  of  this  organization  as  stated  in 
their  constitution  is  to  build  up  the  character  of  Japanese 
residing  in  the  United  States,  to  protect  their  rights  and  privi- 
leges, to  promote  their  welfare ;  and  bring  about  a  closer  friend- 
ship between  the  peoples  of  Japan  and  peoples  of  the  United 
States  of  America. 

Economic  Opportunity. 

Two  years  ago  a  conference  of  Oriental  and  American 
Christians  was  held  in  San  Francisco  at  which  were  present 
Chinese,  Japanese  and  Korean  Christian  workers.  In  a  list 
of  ideals  to  which  we  should  work  was  one  of  which  they  all 
spoke  with  deepest  concern.  It  was  that  Orientals  be  given 
equal  economic  opportunity  with  American  people.  They  spoke 
of  the  limited  number  of  openings  in  business  and  professional 
lines  and  the  slight  incentive  to  young  men  and  women  to  fit 
themselves  for  positions  which  they  were  not  privileged  to  enter. 
It  was  with  feeling  that  a  group  of  Chinese  girls  told  of  the 
lack  of  employers  to  take  them  seriously  when  they  really 
desired  positions  in  real  business  life.  There  are  two  types  of 
business  women  among  the  Chinese,  one  the  "dolled-up"  and 
painted  girl  who  passes  after  dinner  mints  or  fills  water  glasses 
in  hotels  or  restaurants  or  who  walks  about  in  department 
stores  or  beauty  parlors  for  aesthetic  effect  rather  than  real 
service.  The  second  type  is  those  who  have  honest  desire  for 
real  business  life.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  latter  group  resents 
the  offer  of  a  position  such  as  that  filled  by  the  "dolled"  up 
girl?  When  the  story  appeared  in  the  August  number  of  The 
Ladies  Home  Journal  where  a  girl  of  the  "butterfly"  type  pass- 
ing after  dinner  mints  in  a  San  Francisco  cafe  was  taken  as 
representing  the  life  and  ideals  of  the  American  born  Chinese 
girl  in  San  Francisco,  could  we  blame  the  more  serious  minded, 
trained  girl  who  would  deplore  so  superficial  an  outlook  on  life 
for  feeling  that  Chinese  womanhood  was  thus  being  exploited? 

Social  Opportunities. 

What  of  the  social  opportunities  afforded  our  Oriental  people  ? 
As  I  have  talked  with  various  American  workers  among  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese  and  many  of  the  Japanese  and  Chinese 
themselves  all  are  agreed  that  the  development  to  the  social 
life  in  these  respective  communities  is  one  of  the  crying  needs. 

35 


What  provision  is  made  for  "get  together"  events  where  the 
Orientals  and  Americans  can  come  to  know  each  other?  On 
questioning  whether  American  Christians  responded  if  invited 
to  meet  a  group  of  Oriental  Christians,  the  common  response  is 
that  the  Americans  are  the  slowest  to  realize  our  responsibilities 
and  privileges  along  this  line.  The  social  program  for  the 
young  people  in  the  Oriental  groups  has  not  been  taken  up  as 
thoughtfully  as  it  should  be.  Supervised  recreation  and 
chaperoned  social  parties  are  more  needed  if  that  were  possible 
among  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  youths  and  maidens,  than 
among  our  American  young  people.  The  absence  of  the  movie 
in  Chinatown  does  not  signify  that  the  young  people  do  not 
desire  recreation  and  entertainment.  Too  often  the  churches 
find  their  grip  on  their  young  people  slackening  because  of  a 
failure  to  satisfy  the  social  and  play  spirit  of  youth  and  not 
providing  a  program  to  give  outlet  for  their  pep  and  vim,  with 
a  leader  who  understands  boys  and  girls  and  is  trained  for 
such  activities. 

Of  the  philanthropic  work  to  be  done  among  Japanese  or 
Chinese,  little  need  be  said.  There  is  little  poverty  such  as  is 
met  in  Japan  or  China  and  in  the  rare  cases  where  relief  is 
needed,  sickness  or  old  age  has  been  the  cause.  In  the  churches 
only  on  rare  occasion,  is  there  a  call  for  special  offerings  for 
relief  among  the  members.  These  people  are  so  loyal  to  each 
other  that  if  there  is  need  for  help,  those  from  the  same 
province,  clan  or  family  aid  before  such  need  is  apparent  to  the 
community. 

Sick  relief  is  sometimes  needed  but  often  all  that  is  necessary 
is  that  arrangements  be  made  for  proper  treatment  or  entrance 
into  a  hospital.  There  are  both  Chinese  and  Japanese  physicians 
to  whom  their  people  go,  yet  many  Japanese  especially  seek 
the  services  of  American  doctors  in  case  of  illness.  Some 
attempt  has  been  made  to  start  a  free  clinic  in  Chinatown  but 
closed  before  its  success  had  been  proved.  There  is  evidently 
a  need  for  such  and  by  proper  co-operation  with  all  agencies 
and  making  a  community  concern  of  it  would  no  doubt  in  time 
prove  its  value. 

Among  the  needs  in  almost  every  Oriental  community  are  the 
same  outstanding  ones  that  we  should  insist  upon  having  met 
for  the  American  sections  of  our  cities.  Playgrounds  well 
equipped  where  there  can  be  supervised  play  for  children,  boys 
and  girls  clubs  with  challenging  purpose.  Vocational  and  indus- 
trial training  and  guidance.  Branches  of  the  Public  Library 
with  a  librarian  who  gives  thought  and  study  to  the  kind  of 
reading  material  needed  by  her  particular  group  are  some  of 
the  most  striking  needs. 

Repeated  calls  have  come  for  day  nurseries  by  Japanese  in 
San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles.  This  need  has  also  been 
spoken  of  for  the  Chinese  children  in  San  Francisco. 

There  is  no  end  of  service  which  might  be  effectively  done; 
in  community  social  events,  lecture  courses  and  discussion 

36 


forums  if  taken  hold  of  as  a  community  affair  with  all  agencies 
co-operating  and  the  biggest  personel  to  carry  it  out.  A  com- 
munity social  center  was  a  suggestion  made  by  a  Chinese  girl 
in  Los  Angeles. 

The  Protestant  churches  and  missions  under  the  seven  or 
eight  denominational  boards,  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association,  the  Salvation  Army,  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  and  the  Catholic  church  each  has  a  program  for 
both  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  communities  in  both  San 
Francisco  and  all  but  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  Los  Angeles,  each  with 
varied  activities,  institutions  and  buildings,  each  duplicating  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent  the  activities  of  the  others  at  great 
expenditure  of  funds  and  employing  a  large  staff  of  workers. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  its  Japanese  Women's 
Home  in  San  Francisco  and  another  in  Los  Angeles  as  well  as 
a  Chinese  Home  where  a  splendid  and  heroic  rescue  and  pre- 
ventive work  is  carried  on  under  the  superintendency  of  Miss 
Donaldina  Cameron.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
has  its  boarding  department  and  neighborhood  center  for 
Japanese  boys  in  San  Francisco  and  some  extension  work  in 
Los  Angeles.  The  Chinese  Y.  M.  C.  A.  also  serves  the  Chinese 
community  in  a  similar  way. 

The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  has  for  Japanese  girls  and  women  in  con- 
nection with  the  International  Institute  of  the  local  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  in  San  Francisco  and  Los 
Angeles,  a  boarding  department,  a  home  visitor  speaking  the 
language  and  a  neighborhood  center  with  its  four-fold  program 
of  activities.  In  San  Francisco  there  is  a  Chinese  center  with 
its  service  for  the  Chinese  girls  and  women  also  reaching  out 
to  the  homes  through  a  Chinese-speaking  worker,  and  with 
the  same  relation  to  the  local  Y.  W.  C.  A.  as  in  case  of  the 
Japanese  Work. 

The  Union  Japanese  Church  in  San  Francisco  has  its  Social 
Annex,  a  building  separate  from  the  church  building  where 
the  occasional  social  events  of  the  church  are  held  and  where 
guests  from  Japan  and  elsewhere  are  entertained  temporarily. 

Each  church  is  naturally  a  center  for  the  gathering  of  groups 
for  social  recreation  and  entertainment.  Two  Chinese  churches 
have  a  room  set  aside  as  a  Young  Men's  Social  Room.  Social 
service  work  is  carried  on  to  some  extent  by  all  the  churches 
among  their  particular  membership  and  friends.  Individual 
cases  are  given  medical  care  and  more  or  less  home  visiting  is 
done  by  each  organization.  The  dormitory  is  a  feature  of  many 
of  the  missions.  The  kindergartens,  day  schools  and  night  school 
classes  are  all  in  an  individual  way  contributing  to  the  educa- 
tion along  lines  of  health,  sanitation  and  civic  life.  It  is  not  for 
this  paper  to  name  all  that  is  being  accomplished  but  it  might 
appear  that  in  the  multiplicity  of  things  demanding  attention 
some  pieces  of  work  are  not  touched  and  others  are  done  less 
effectively  than  if  there  was  closer  co-operation  and  a  specializa- 

37 


tion  in  program  worked  out  whereby  the  whole  task  can  be 
effectively  accomplished. 

It  might  seem  that  it  goes  without  saying  that  if  we  are  to 
usher  in  the  right  social  order  it  is  essential  that  the  leaders 
and  workers  be  men  and  women  of  vision  and  as  thoroughly 
prepared  and  possessing  as  great  scientific  training  in  social 
problems  as  educators  and  those  in  the  medical  profession  have 
had  in  their  fields.  It  is  as  much  a  science  to  diagnose  and 
prescribe  remedies  or  to  educate  for  construction  development 
in  the  community  and  family  as  a  physician  must  employ  in 
diagnosing  and  prescribing  for  his  patients  in  case  of  sickness. 

In  the  Conference  on  Women's  Problems  in  China  to  which 
I  turned  for  the  definition  of  social  service,  one  recommendation 
was  that  every  evangelistic  worker  should  be  trained  in  sociology 
and  economics  and  have  practical  experience  in  social  work. 
In  speaking  of  this  Miss  Freedman  said:  "Our  great  hope  is 
to  prevent  the  divorce  between  religion  and  philanthropy  which 
was  brought  about  in  America  through  the  slowness  of  the 
churches  to  interest  themselves  in  social  service.  We  wish  to 
tie  preaching  and  practice  so  closely  together  that  Christianity 
will  be  linked  up  in  the  minds  of  the  Orientals  with  definite 
helpfulness  in  individual  and  community  welfare." 

CHINESE  SLAVERY. 
Is  it  Fact,  or  Fiction? 

BY    MlSS    DONALDINA    CAMERON, 

Supt.  Presbyterian  Mission  Home. 

For  more  than  half  a  century  American  Journal  and  news- 
paper writers  have  smacked  their  lips  over  the  deliciously 
romantic  flavor  of  the  term  "Chinese  Slavery,"  and  have  pigeon- 
holed it  for  occasional  use  with  other  choice  western  vernacular, 
including  "Chinese  Highbinder,"  "Hatchetman,"  "Opium  Den," 
and  "Fantan."  Thousands  have  read  these  terms,  have  thrilled, 
perhaps,  at  the  mysterious  "human  interest"  stories  into  which 
they  were  woven,  then  passed  along  the  well-worn  way  of 
smug  satisfaction,  assuring  themselves  it  was  only  fiction.  Had 
not  a  battle  been  fought,  a  great  victory  won,  slavery  forever 
abolished  from  America  ?  It  is  absolutely  unconstitutional !  No, 
Chinese  slavery  must  be  an  extraneous  thing  from  without, — a 
regrettable  thing,  if  it  really  exists, — and  the  if  makes  the  whole 
thing  easily  forgettable. 

That  all  men  here  this  hour — and  women  also — may  know 
unforgettably  that  Chinese  slavery  is  a  fact,  and  what  it  is, 
and  how  deeply  tragic  it  is  in  actual  fact,  I  beg  your  indulgence 
for  five  minutes,  that  I  may  place  on  the  screen  before  you  a 
living  picture  more  eloquent  than  any  words,  more  moving  than 
all  my  appeals. 

As  you  shall  look  upon  the  faces  of  seven  young  women,  all 
rescued  slave  girls,  think  of  them,  if  you  please,  as  they  landed 

38 


first  in  this  country — young,  helpless  girls  of  tender  years,  un- 
familiar with  our  language  and  our  laws,  unaware  that  they  had 
any  personal  rights, — think  of  them,  if  it  be  possible  so  far 
to  stretch  your  imagination,  as  your  own  daughters — then  pic- 
ture, if  you  will,  the  pile  of  American  gold — $30,000.00,  given 
in  barter  for  these  young  lives, — the  price  of  seven  precious 
souls  sold  here  in  California  under  our  blue  sky,  above  the 
blood-bought  ground  we  love  to  call  "free  American  soil." 

Think,  please,  as  you  look  and  listen. 

(Enter  six  rescued  Chinese  slave  girls  dressed  in  native 
costume  who  sing  in  their  own  language  "Out  of  my  Bondage, 
Sorrow  and  Night,  Jesus  I  Come.") 

Sold  for  thirty  thousand  pieces  of  silver! 

Do  you  acquiesce  by  your  indifference,  your  apathy,  your 
tolerance  of  such  evils? 

Is  it  American?  Is  it  Christian  to  sit  at  ease  while  such 
practices  go  forward  year  by  year  unhindered? 

If  I  could  throw  upon  the  walls  of  this  room  some  of  the 
many  pictures  depicting  the  sorrows  of  such  girls  as  these  you 
have  just  seen,  which  are  forever  graven  upon  the  walls  of 
my  heart — pictures  of  bitterest  wrong  and  cruel  oppression,  you 
would  rise  to  a  man  and  say,  "It  shall  not  continue  to  be  thus." 

Just  what  does  this  slavery  imply,  and  how  does  it  exist  in 
a  country  which  has  once  and  for  all  abolished  slavery? 

It  came  from  China  with  the  first  gold  seekers  from  that  far 
country.  Other  evils  came  from  other  lands  than  China;  but 
they  were  evils  peculiar  to  the  white  man,  and  there  was  a 
Vigilante  Committee,  and  the  white  man  made  it  his  business  to 
deal  summarily  with  the  lawless  of  his  own  kind;  but  since  the 
Chinaman  did  his  work  well,  and  did  not  molest  his  American 
neighbors,  it  was  much  less  trouble  to  pass  by  on  the  other  side, 
and  let  him  settle  his  own  disputes  and  carry  on  his  heathen 
practices  unmolested.  So  slavery  took  deep  root,  along  with 
other  evils — opium,  gambling,  plural  marriage,  and  worst  of 
all,  the  organization  of  secret  societies  known  from  these  early 
days  as  "Highbinder  Tongs." 

We  cannot  consider  the  problem  of  slavery  among  the 
Chinese  apart  from  this  other,  deep-rooted  evil,  of  which  it  is 
a  vital  part.  These  Tongs,  made  up  of  the  lawless  element, 
are  organized  for  the  sole  purpose  of  gambling,  traffic  in  slaves 
and  opium,  and  blackmail.  They  disregard  all  laws  but  those 
of  their  own  making,  and  there  is  absolutely  no  protection 
against  their  ruthless  assaults,  as  no  man  or  woman  dares  testify 
against  them,  well  knowing  that  any  opposition  to  their  demands 
or  wicked  practices  may  cost  many  lives.  These  murderous 
Tongs  exist  in  no  other  country  but  the  United  States,  and  only 
in  very  small  numbers  beyond  the  Pacific  Coast;  but  here  they 
are  a  constantly  increasing  menace.  No  one  can  approximate 
the  membership,  as  all  records  are  guarded  with  greatest  secrecy. 

39 


Every  slave  girl  is  owned,  guarded,  and  absolutely  controlled 
by  one  or  more  members  of  a  Tong;  if  she  makes  any  attempt 
to  escape,  or  to  assert  her  personal  rights,  or  if  she  wishes  to 
marry,  she  is  immediately  menaced  by  the  fear  of  death  unless 
she  can  raise  several  thousand  dollars  with  which  to  purchase 
immunity.  Any  man  or  woman  who  is  discovered  to  have 
rendered  assistance  must  also  pay  the  forfeit,  or  die. 

Twenty-seven  lives  were  the  toll  exacted  a  few  years  ago  in 
revenge  for  the  escape  of  one  slave  girl,  and  not  one  conviction 
for  murder  that  I  know  of. 

A  newspaper  man,  of  international  reputation,  who  spent 
much  time  for  years  studying  Chinese  life  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
well  expressed  the  situation  when  he  said : 

"Fear  is  the  cement  that  holds  together  the  Chinese  com- 
munity." 

It  is  a  deadly  fear,  which  prevents  even  the  very  best  of  our 
Christian  Chinese  from  coming  out  openly  in  opposition  to  the 
many  debasing  evils  of  Chinatown,  or  from  co-operating  with 
American  missionaries  in  the  rescue  work  and  conviction  of 
those  who  perpetrate  deeds  of  cruelty  and  violence. 

Nor  are  Chinese  alone  responsible  for  these  deplorable  con- 
ditions. They  have  their  American  allies  who  are  also  their 
paid  hirelings.  Every  Highbinder  society  has  its  own  group  of 
attorneys — men  who  have  learned  well  all  the  tricks  of  legal 
jugglery,  and  who  combine  shrewd  American  wit  with  that  of 
their  wily  Oriental  clients  to  outwit  justice,  to  frustrate  laws 
framed  for  the  protection  of  the  innocent  and  safe-guarding  of 
the  helpless.  Countless  men,  whose  hands  are  dyed  in  the  blood 
of  their  countrymen  escape  justice  every  year,  while  numberless 
innocent  and  helpless  young  girls  are  dragged  into  the  lowest 
form  of  slavery  through  the  united  efforts  of  Chinese  High- 
binders and  American  attorneys.  Respectable  Chinese  deplore 
deeply  these  conditions,  but  under  the  existing  state  of  affairs 
they  are  helpless. 

It  rests  with  Christian  Americans  to  consider  earnestly  and 
prayerfully  this  really  serious  situation,  and  unitedly  take  action 
to  eliminate  utterly  from  our  Chinese  communities  in  the  United 
States  these  two  great  evils  which  are  steadily  undermining  the 
work  of  all  our  mission  churches  and  schools,  and  weakening 
year  by  year  the  moral  fibre  of  the  youth  of  Chinatown.  Only 
to  those  of  us  who  are  engaged  in  the  rescue  work,  and  who 
know  from  personal  daily  contact  with  the  life  of  the  under- 
world of  Chinatown,  are  these  really  tragic  facts  revealed.  We 
know,  alas,  too  many  things  which  we  wish  mightily  we  did 
not  know;  but  since  these  things  are  facts,  not  fiction, — since 
we  know  that,  while  we  continue  to  build  churches  and  lay 
plans  for  larger  mission  schools,  hold  conferences  and  raise 
money  in  almost  fabulous  sums  for  missions  at  home  and  abroad 
there  are  appalling  conditions  crying  for  redress  upon  our  very 
thresholds,  shall  we  not  pause  and  consider  whether  there  are 
not  better  methods,  more  thorough  means  at  hand,  by  which 

40 


we  may,  with  the  help  of  God,  uproot  these  thorns  and  briars, 
and  cultivate  a  fairer  harvest  for  our  Divine  Master? 

The  Rescue  Homes  of  the  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  Boards 
have  wrought  well  these  fifty  years.  We  thank  God  for 
hundreds  of  Chinese  children  and  young  girls  rescued  from 
slavery  and  saved  from  sin.  We  glory  in  the  almost  miraculous 
evidences  of  God's  wonder-working  power  in  many  of  those 
lives, — transformations  in  body  and  spirit  which  thrill  our 
hearts  and  are  daily  evidence  of  the  truth,  "With  man  it  is 
impossible,  but  with  God — all  things  are  possible." 

POLICING  THE  CHINESE  IN  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

CAPT.  DUNCAN  MATHESON. 
Detective  Police  Force  of  San  Francisco. 

Capt.  Matheson  spoke  to  the  Conference  and  the  substance 
of  his  address  was  taken  down: 

Two  years  and  nine  months  have  been  spent  in  Chinatown 
and  this  period  represents  some  very  stormy  times.  The  Chinese 
are  a  peculiar  people;  as  individuals  are  very  sociable  and 
honest  to  a  fault.  Among  the  Chinese  there  are  two  parties 
commonly  known  as  tongs;  one  is  the  social  tong,  and  the  other 
the  fighting  tong.  These  tongs  do  not  exist  in  China  and  are 
only  found  in  the  United  States.  The  fighting  tongs  and  the 
social  tongs  are  very  different  in  their  aims  and  purposes.  The 
social  tongs  exist  only  for  helpfulness ;  the  fighting  tongs — of 
which  Capt.  Matheson  named  some  ten  or  twelve — each  have 
some  peculiar  interest  such  as  gambling  or  sex  immorality. 
Tongs  can  declare  war  when  they  want  to,  declare  a  truce  when 
they  wish,  and  peace  can  be  signed  at  will.  In  a  war  declared 
between  two  tongs  four  men  had  been  shot  within  seven 
minutes  after  the  declaration  and  the  war  continued  for  several 
months.  If  a  tong  steals  a  prostitute  from  another  tong  and 
the  money  is  not  at  once  forthcoming,  a  war  is  sure  to  be 
declared.  The  Chinese  are  afraid  to  witness  in  a  case  against 
any  tong.  If  anyone  should  do  so  his  life  would  be  in  great 
danger,  but  all  the  tongs  are  afraid  of  the  testimonies  of  white 
people.  Not  all  the  Chinese  population  belong  to  the  tongs; 
only  about  eight  or  ten  per  cent,  are  members. 

Capt.  Matheson  hopes  that  an  alien  law  can  be  passed  whereby 
anyone  engaging  in  tong  disturbance  can  be  deported.  The 
Chinese  cannot  stamp  it  out  themselves.  Facts  and  figures 
should  be  carefully  compiled  and  presented  at  Washington  and 
such  laws  agitated  as  will  stamp  out  these  tongs. 

The  slave  girl  is  owned  as  an  investment;  she  cannot  land  in 
America  except  as  the  wife  or  daughter  of  a  Chinese  man;  so 
arrangements  are  made  in  the  tong  applying  for  her  admission 
for  a  husband.  The  cost  required  to  land  a  slave  girl,  including 
attorney's  fees  and  any  costs  attached  by  the  immigration  author- 
ities, determines  the  value  of  said  slave  girl.  The  ingenious  get- 

41 


aways  provided  in  the  room  where  girls  are  kept  in  case  she  is 
about  to  be  traced  by  police  officials  are  unbelievable.  Dis- 
appearing doors,  traps  in  the  floor  and  screens  in  the  walls  are 
some  of  these  get-aways. 

The  slave  girls  in  Chinatown  nine  years  ago  numbered  61,  of 
whom  25  were  Japanese  and  36  Chinese  women;  all  slave  girls 
are  landed  by  subterfuge.  The  landing  of  a  slave  girl  is  not  the 
only  expense,  for  disease  is  prevalent  among  them.  A  diseased 
woman  is  isolated  and  must  be  cared  for  at  the  expense  of  the 
tong  to  whom  she  belongs,  or  return  to  China.  The  officials 
have  a  variety  of  ways  through  which  slave  girls  are  discovered ; 
by  accident,  by  annonymous  letters  and  by  secret  information. 

Another  evil  of  the  Chinese  community  is  that  of  opium 
eating.  Earlier  when  opium  was  easier  to  get  there  was  great 
effort  to  stamp  it  out  by  arrests  and  fines,  but  now  that  laws 
forbid  the  importing  of  opium  the  opium  eating  is  done  much 
more  secretly.  The  use  of  opiates  is  indulged  in  in  three  ways : 
smoking,  whose  participants  are  called  "hop-heads,"  the  hypo- 
dermic needle,  whose  participants  are  called  "hypos,"  and  the 
snuffing  of  cocaine  gives  the  name  "snow-birds."  The  effect  of 
opiates  on  the  Chinese  who  is  accustomed  to  the  use  of  opium  is 
very  different  from  that  on  the  white  person  less  accustomed  to 
its  use.  The  smuggling  of  opium  comes  for  the  most  part  over 
the  border  from  Canada  or  Mexico  and  is  concealed  in  every 
conceivable  way.  The  price  of  the  opium  is  determined  by  the 
cost  of  getting  it  into  the  country. 

Gambling  is  very  common  and  often  a  source  of  very  great 
disturbance.  The  Chinese  are  natural  gamblers  and  the  different 
ways  of  gambling  and  subjects  over  which  to  gamble  are  infinite 
in  number. 

REPORT  OF  THE  FINDINGS  COMMITTEE. 

The   report   of   the   Findings    Committee   was   presented   and 
adopted  as  follows : 
Oriental  Situation  in  California. 

As  a  result  of  a  careful  inspection  of  mission  work  in  Cali- 
fornia for  Chinese,  Koreans  and  Japanese,  particularly  in  Los 
Angeles  and  San  Francisco,  we  are  strongly  impressed  with  the 
result  of  Christian  work  in  Americanization  and  assimilation. 

While  not  arguing  for  a  wider  open  door  of  immigration,  we 
cannot  discover  that  a  limited  number  of  these  people  constitutes 
a  menace.  On  the  other  hand,  the  proposition  to  take  from 
their  children  born  in  this  country  the  privilege  of  citizenship 
we  regard  as  unAmerican  and  unChristian,  and  calculated  to 
prejudice  those  American-born  children  against  our  people  and 
our  institutions. 

We  recommend  to  our  various  National  Mission  Boards  and 
the  Home  Missions  Council  that  they  urge  President  Wilson  and 
Secretary  of  State  Colby  to  press  for  an  honorable  and  speedy 
settlement  of  such  features  of  this  complex  question  as  are 
purely  international. 

42 


Directory  of  Orientals. 

We  urge  the  Home  Missions  Council  to  issue  a  directory  of 
the  Oriental  work  to  take  the  place  of  the  recent  directory  issued 
by  the  Dendo  Dan,  with  the  addition  of  a  brief  summary  of 
work  conducted  by  the  various  boards. 

On  Permanent  Organization.. 

In  view  of  the  extensive  work  being  done  by  the  churches  and 
other  Christian  organizations  among  Orientals  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  and  the  need  of  a  united  advisory  committee,  we  recom- 
mend : 

I.  That  the  present  "Standing  Committee  of  American 
Workers  among  Orientals  on  the  Pacific  Coast"  be 
continued ; 

II.     That  a  shorter  name  be  chosen  for  the  Committee; 
III.     That   the   personnel   of   the   Committee    be    carefully 
revised,   such  changes  being  made  as  may  be   found 
necessary. 

On  Overlapping. 

A  survey  of  the  Protestant  Christian  work  among  Orientals 
now  being  done  in  California  by  Americans  reveals : 

1.  Churches  or  Missions  for  Orientals  are  maintained  by 
fourteen    denominations,    operating    through    National 
Home  Missions  Boards  or  Foreign  Mission  Boards,  or 
through  local  or  district  organizations,  as  follows :   Bap- 
tist,   Brethren     (Dunkards),    Christian     (Disciples    of 
Christ),  Congregational,  Friends,  Methodist  Episcopal, 
Methodist  Episcopal  South,  Free  Methodist,  Nazarene, 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.  (North),  Cumber- 
land    Presbyterian,     Protestant     Episcopal,     Reformed 
Church  in  the  U.  S.  and  Seventh  Day  Adventists ;  work 
is  also  maintained  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
the   Salvation  Army,  the  American  Bible   Society  and 
the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 

2.  There  are  43  Christian  institutes  for  Chinese  in  North- 
ern California,  mostly  in  the  San  Francisco  Bay  region, 
and   ten   in   Southern   California,   comprising   churches, 
schools,  homes  and  various  other  forms  of  religious  and 
social  work. 

3.  Work  for  Japanese  is  maintained  at  40  places  in  North- 
ern California  and  at  32  places  in  Southern  California. 

4.  Work  for  Koreans  is  maintained  at  15  places  in  Cali- 
fornia,  the   Methodist   Episcopal    Church    South   being 
responsible  for  the  work  in  general  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  state,  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  being  responsi- 
ble for  the  work  in  general  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
state. 

5.  There  are  enough  agencies  now  at  work  to  care  for  the 
entire    Oriental    population,    but    the    work    should    be 

43 


strengthened.   Additional  agencies  should  be  discouraged 
from  entering  occupied  fields. 

6.     In  certain  localities  there  is  duplication  of  effort.     Con- 
cerning those  places  we  recommend  as  follows : 

(a)  That  the  Methodist  Episcopal  and  Protestant  Epis- 
copal  Churches   be   requested   to    adequately   care 
for   the  Japanese   in   that   general   section   of   Los 
Angeles  where  their  missions  are  now  located. 

(b)  That  the   Christian  Church    (Disciples   of   Christ) 
be  encouraged  to  adequately  develop  the  work  at 
present  being  conducted  by  it  among  the  Japanese 
in  Los  Angeles. 

(c)  That   in   Los   Angeles   the   agencies   now   at   work 
among  the   Japanese   in   the   Plaza   section   be   re- 
quested to  combine  as  far  as  possible  along  all  lines 
of  work,  and  that  they  join  in  securing  a  building, 
or  buildings,  equipment  and  a  staff  of  competent 
workers. 

(d)  That  we  commend  the  Baptist  Church  for  under- 
taking work  for  Japanese  at  Moneta  and  San  Pedro 
in  Los  Angeles  where  no  other  organizations  are  at 
work,  and  encourage  it  to  adequately  care  for  those 
fields;  That  the  Baptist  plan  to  establish  work  only 
in  the  unoccupied  fields  be  recommended  to  other 
organizations  as  a  worthy  example  to  follow. 

(e)  That  in  view  of  the  fact  that  among  a  Chinese  popu- 
lation of  not  more  than  2,000  in  Los  Angeles  there 
are  five  small  missions  located  very  close  together 
in  the  Plaza  section,  and  all  of  them  poorly  housed ; 
the  organizations  and  agencies  conducting  the  work 
there  be  urged  to  make  an  effort  to  combine  these 
missions  as  far  as  possible,  and  that  they  unite  in 
securing   a   building,    or   buildings,    equipment    and 
staff  of  competent  workers. 

(f)  That  among  a  population  of  about  7,000  Japanese 
in  San  Francisco,  while  the  four  churches  are  none 
too  many,  they  might  have  been  more  strategically 
separated  as  to  location;  but,  in  view  of  their  ex- 
tensive properties  and  the  cordial  relations  existing 
among   them,   we   recommend   only   that   they    en- 
deavor to  make  full  use  of  their  buildings. 

(g)  We  do  not  feel  that  the  Free  Methodist  Church 
was    justified   in   undertaking    work    for   Japanese 
recently  in  Berkeley,  and  we  recommend  that  it  be 
requested  to  consider  combining  with  the  Methodist 
Church   there,   or   to   transfer   its   efforts   to   other 
needy  fields. 

(h)   That   since   65%    of  the   money   appropriated    for 
Chinese   work   in   California   is   spent   in   the    San 

44 


Francisco  Bay  region,  where  only  one-fourth  of 
the  Chinese  of  the  state  live,  while  there  are  groups 
of  Chinese  for  whom  little  or  nothing  is  being  done, 
we  recommend  that  a  careful  and  continued  study 
of  the  situation  be  made,  looking  toward  less  dup- 
lication of  effort. 

Especially  do  we  deprecate  the  large  amount  of 
money  expended  in  denominational  buildings  within 
a  small  area  in  San  Francisco. 

Particularly  do  we  recommend  that  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church  be  requested  to  reconsider  its 
purpose  to  erect  a  new  church  building  in  the  same 
area,  and  to  seek  some  way  of  caring  for  its  work 
in  buildings  now  in  existence,  preferably  in  co- 
operation with  other  churches. 

(i)  That  the  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  Churches, 
which  maintain  homes  for  Chinese  girls,  be  urged 
to  so  adjust  their  plans  as  to  work  in  co-operation 
in  this  particular,  with  a  view  to  conducting  the 
rescue  work  apart  from  the  work  for  other  girls. 

(j)  That  the  several  organizations  maintaining  missions 
among  the  2,000  Chinese  in  Oakland  be  urged  to 
combine  their  work  as  far  as  possible,  and  that 
they  join  in  securing  a  building,  or  buildings,  equip- 
ment and  a  staff  of  competent  workers. 

(k)  That  the  "Standing  Committee"  be  requested  to 
consider  the  need  of  homes  for  the  care  of  Oriental 
boys  up  to  about  twelve  years  of  age. 

(1)  That  we  commend  the  successful  attempts  at  con- 
ducting federated  work  for  the  Japanese  in  San 
Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Pasadena,  Santa  Ana, 
Riverside  and  Mexicali  by  the  Congregationalists, 
Methodists  and  Presbyterians,  and  recommend  the 
plan  for  other  points. 

Neglected  Mission  Fields. 

We  would  recommend  to  the  agencies  at  work  among  the 
Orientals  in  co-operation  with  Oriental  organizations  now  exist- 
ing, or  to  be  established,  that  attention  be  called  to  the  need  for 
concerted  action  for  evangelization  of  the  scattered  groups,  or 
minor  groups  too  small  for  a  church;  that  an  evangelist  or 
evangelists,  should  be  secured  as  early  as  possible  for  this  task, 
leaving  the  financing  of  it  to  be  undertaken  mutually  by  the  co- 
operating agencies. 

As  a  result  of  a  careful  interdenominational  survey,  we  recog- 
nize the  following  fields  as  needs  and  their  occupancy  as  urgent : 

Among  the  Japanese. 

1.  Western    Washington:    small    towns,    open    country    and 
lumber  towns. 

2.  Yakima  Valley,  Washington. 

45 


3.  Idaho  Falls  and  Pocatello,  Idaho. 

4.  Country  districts,  including  mining  and  smelter  camps  in 
Utah. 

5.  Towns  and  mining  camps  along  the  Union  Pacific  R.  R. 
in  Wyoming. 

6.  Northern  part  of  Orange  County,  California. 

7.  Small  towns  between  Pasadena  and  San  Bernardino,  Cal- 
ifornia. 

8.  Hood  River  Valley,  Oregon. 

Among  the  Chinese. 

1.  Sacramento    River   towns:    Locke,    Walnut    Grove,    Isle- 
ton,  etc. 

2.  Reno,  Salt  Lake,  Ogden,  Boise,  Spokane. 

3.  Country  Districts  of  San  Joaquin  Valley. 

4.  Mexicali  and  Country  Districts  of  Lower  California. 
Motion  carried  to  refer  this  to  the  Standing  Committee. 

Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations. 

That  we  very  heartily  commend  the  work  being  done  among 
Orientals  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  urge 
those  organizations  to  develop  the  work  to  an  extent  adequate  to 
the  challenge  of  the  present  opportunity,  and  that  there  be  con- 
tinued mutual  co-operation  between  the  Associations  and  the 
churches. 

I.  We  would  call  the  attention  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  either 
nationally  or  locally  to   the  need  of  a   central  organization   in 
large  cities  where  there  are  large  numbers  of  Chinese  and  Japa- 
nese, and  branch  associations  in  many  surrounding  localities  now 
uncared  for. 

II.  The  Chinese  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  San  Francisco  came  into 
existence  at  the  urgent   request  of  the   Committee   of   Mission 
Workers  and  Superintendents  in  San  Francisco,  and  also  because 
of  repeated  wishes  of  the  Chinese  themselves,  to  do  the  social, 
recreational  and   other   work   not   being   done   by   the   missions 
which  because  of  lack  of   experienced   leaders   and   equipment 
they  were  not  so  well  able  to  do.     There  is  now  a  very  definite 
need    for    larger    quarters    and    adequate    housing    for    young 
women  entering  schools  and  business,   for  whom  the  city  and 
the   community   provides   no   suitable   housing.      Therefore,    we 
recommend : 

1.  That  this  vital  need  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
Foreign-born   Department   of   the   local,   field   and   national 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  that  steps  may  be 
taken  to  supply  the  adequate  equipment  and  financial  sup- 
port necessary. 

2.  That    the    Foreign    Community    Department    of    the 
Pacific    Coast    Field    Committee    of    the    Young    Women's 
Christian   Association  be  asked  to   take   into   consideration 
groups  of  Chinese  young  women  in  other  cities  where  there 

46 


should  be  closer  co-operation  with  the  Chinese  Missions  in 
the  interests  of  the  social  and  recreational  needs  of  the  girls 
and  young  women. 

Affiliation. 

We  earnestly  urge  all  organizations  which  are  now  doing 
work  among  Orientals  on  the  Pacific  Coast  to  affiliate  themselves 
with  the  Home  Missions  Council,  and  thereby  with  this  local 
organization. 

Educational  Work  in  Chinese  Community  in  San  Francisco, 

We  recommend  that  the  attention  of  our  Boards  be  called  to 
the  very  serious  overlapping  of  the  present  school  system,  the 
unsystematic  status  of  the  educational  program  and  the  in- 
efficient methods  now  used.  We  believe  that  much  better  results 
can  be  obtained  by  combining  the  grades  and  specializing  in 
different  places  under  an  educational  director,  and  to  that  end 
we  would  recommend  that  the  local  superintendents  be  requested 
to  secure  a  committee,  of  which  one  at  least  shall  be  a  local 
Christian  school  man  to  study  the  situation  and  present  a 
program  which  shall  attain  larger  results  and  place  renewed 
and  special  emphasis  on  religious  education  and  the  development 
of  spiritual  life. 

We  would  commend  to  the  Standing  Committee  the  survey 
and  conclusions  presented  to  this  Conference  by  Supt.  Charles 
R.  Shepherd. 

Literature. 

Convinced  of  the  especial  value  of  periodical  Christian  litera- 
ture as  an  evangelizing  agency  among  Oriental  peoples  in  the 
United  States,  we  recommend  to  all  mission  boards  and  organi- 
zations concerned  in  Oriental  mission  work  generous  financial 
assistance  in  the  publication  of  a  new  Christian  newspaper  for 
the  Chinese,  and  of  a  union  Christian  paper  for  the  Japanese, 
under  the  direction  of  the  union  evangelistic  organizations  of 
Chinese  and  Japanese  which  are  now  or  may  be  organized,  in 
pursuance  of  a  recommendation  previously  made,  plans  for 
which  should  be  submitted  to  the  Boards.  Recommendation  was 
carried  and  by  motion  referred  to  the  Standing  Committee. 

Vice  Conditions  in  the  Chinese  Community. 

The  startling  and  explicit  statements  presented  to  this  Con- 
ference concerning  vice  conditions  in  the  San  Francisco  Chinese 
communities,  involving  not  only  the  gambling,  smuggling  and 
slave  traffic  in  girls  for  immoral  purposes,  carried  on  by  the 
small  percentage  of  Chinese  in  the  fighting  tongs,  and  also  the 
infamous  partnership  in  such  enterprises  of  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  Americans,  demand  continuous  and  intensive  study  of  the 
problem  of  social  control  and  betterment  of  the  Chinese  com- 
munities, where  the  persistence  of  these  conditions  in  the  face 
of  fifty  years  of  Christian  work  constitutes  one  of  the  most 

47 


serious  limitations  to  the  success  of  this  work.  Therefore,  we 
recommend  that  a  special  committee  be  appointed  to  report  to 
the  Home  Missions  Council  in  January. 

The  following  committee  was  appointed  to  investigate  vice 
conditions  in  the  Chinese  communities  of  San  Francisco  and 
make  recommendations  to  the  Home  Missions  Council  in 
January : 

Miss  Donaldina  Cameron, 

Mr.  Duncan  Matheson, 

Rev.  U.  G.  Murphy, 

Dr.  A.  W.  Mell, 

Senator  Edward  Grant,  and 

Mr.  H.  E.  Monroe  in  advisory  capacity. 

Minutes. 

We  recommend  that  the  papers  that  were  read  yesterday,  all 
most  interesting  and  some  invaluable,  be  spread  upon  the 
minutes,  and  that  the  Home  Missions  Council  be  requested  to 
edit  and  publish  them. 

We  recommend  that  a  report  of  the  essential  actions  taken  in 
this  meeting,  together  with  all  of  the  recommendations,  be 
mimeographed  and  furnished  to  each  member  of  this  Conference. 

We  recommend  that  a  vote  of  thanks  be  extended  to  the 
Women's  Occidental  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  for  the  hospi- 
tality shown,  for  the  use  of  this  room,  and  the  splendid  repast 
spread  for  us  yesterday. 

REV.  GEORGE  L.  CADY,  D.D.,  Chairman, 
MRS.  KATHERINE  S.  WESTFALL, 
MRS.  EFFIE  L.  CUNNINGHAM, 
REV.  ERNEST  F.  HALL,  D.D., 
REV.  HERBERT  B.  JOHNSON,  D.D. 

Committee  on  Findings. 


48 


»- 


if  •«-B        « 


1C9 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


